Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Now Covered by BNP Paribas

Equities researchers at BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock. BNP Paribas’ price target suggests a potential downside of 20.35% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on META. Barclays cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.80.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ:META traded up $10.28 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $451.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,489,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,698,000. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $490.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $229.85 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 552 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.00, for a total transaction of $256,128.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,168 shares in the company, valued at $15,853,952. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,257,876 shares of company stock valued at $613,168,252. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Howland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 22.0% during the first quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 89,395 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $43,408,000 after acquiring an additional 16,137 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 1,053 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 370.0% in the first quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,457 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,070,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147 shares in the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the first quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 5,066 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,460,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.