Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Mizuho Analyst Says

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price boosted by equities research analysts at Mizuho from $675.00 to $750.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Mizuho’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 8.82% from the company’s previous close.

META has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 price target (up from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $689.18 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.81, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $613.60 and its 200 day moving average is $565.78. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $387.10 and a 52 week high of $710.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 39.74%. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 25.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total transaction of $24,195,307.97. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 661,804 shares of company stock worth $407,745,741 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,266,531,000 after purchasing an additional 263,063 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,101,602,000 after buying an additional 186,728 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.