Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Research Coverage Started at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an underperform rating and a $360.00 target price on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wolfe Research cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $509.80.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of META traded up $10.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $451.96. 16,489,057 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,698,000. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $490.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $408.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.96, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $229.85 and a 52 week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 7,556 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,576,103.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 77,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,711,856.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,257,876 shares of company stock worth $613,168,252 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Stockton boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Signify Wealth purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $79,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,880,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.