Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Rating Reiterated by Needham & Company LLC

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

META has been the subject of several other research reports. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $521.30.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $493.50 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $495.93 and its 200 day moving average is $403.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total value of $245,578.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,089 shares in the company, valued at $3,552,865.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,368,244 shares of company stock valued at $657,034,449 in the last ninety days. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,747 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,226,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,130 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 7,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richelieu Gestion SA increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Richelieu Gestion SA now owns 2,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Meta Platforms

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.