Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Coverage Initiated at BNP Paribas

Investment analysts at BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock. BNP Paribas’ price objective points to a potential downside of 18.03% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.80.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $439.19 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $492.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $406.97. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $229.85 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total value of $216,354.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,913,722.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total value of $216,354.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,913,722.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,257,291 shares of company stock worth $612,916,087 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $11,285,855,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,752,900,000 after purchasing an additional 4,908,251 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,695,722,000 after buying an additional 4,440,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.