BNP Paribas Initiates Coverage on Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

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

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Benchmark reissued a hold rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $550.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $509.80.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $10.28 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $451.96. 16,489,057 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,698,000. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $229.85 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $490.72 and its 200 day moving average is $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 firm has a market cap of $1.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.96, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,794,965.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,794,965.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,257,876 shares of company stock valued at $613,168,252. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the first quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 435 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. LongView Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the first quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Madison Wealth Partners Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.