Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating restated by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports.

META has been the subject of a number of other reports. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $525.66.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.7 %

META opened at $453.41 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $542.81. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $493.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $473.80. The company has a market capitalization of $1.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,794,965.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was 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 $15,794,965.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $2,386,617.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 311,348 shares of company stock worth $154,678,120 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after acquiring an additional 163,067 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after purchasing an additional 51,900 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 94.4% during the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,955,000 after buying an additional 4,054 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares during the period. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP grew its position in Meta Platforms by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after buying an additional 140,000 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.