Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by stock analysts at Guggenheim in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $800.00 target price on the social networking company’s stock. Guggenheim’s target price indicates a potential upside of 34.79% from the stock’s previous close.
Several other analysts have also issued reports on META. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $865.00 to $766.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Arete Research set a $735.00 price target on Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $767.00 to $835.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $760.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $835.64.
View Our Latest Stock Report on META
Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1%
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms
In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 36,393 shares of company stock valued at $22,141,163 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 488.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,608,445,000 after buying an additional 4,537,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Meta and BlackRock announced a venture to develop and operate a data-center campus in El Paso, Texas, valued at approximately $14 billion. The partnership could help Meta expand AI capacity while sharing development and ownership responsibilities with a major financial partner. Meta Announces New Strategic Venture with BlackRock to Develop Data Center in El Paso
- Positive Sentiment: Several market commentators remain bullish ahead of earnings, citing strong advertising growth, AI-driven improvements in engagement and monetization, a history of earnings beats, and a valuation below Meta’s historical average. Meta is expected to report results after Wednesday’s close. Meta Platforms: Time To Be Greedy
- Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding Meta AI by adding chatbot access to Threads direct messages, potentially increasing user engagement and creating additional long-term monetization opportunities. Threads users can now chat with Meta AI in their DMs
About Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.
Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.
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