Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $610.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target increased by stock analysts at UBS Group from $530.00 to $610.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. UBS Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 21.94% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on META. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.28.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $500.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.57, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $492.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $394.61. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $207.13 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.00 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,459,469 shares of company stock worth $691,726,161 over the last quarter. 14.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $499,020,000 after buying an additional 249,926 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 284.0% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $746,000 after buying an additional 2,482 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.