KeyCorp Boosts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $540.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at KeyCorp from $475.00 to $540.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the social networking company’s stock. KeyCorp’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 8.11% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $499.49 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $479.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $445.53. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,190,573. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,794,965.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 391,071 shares of company stock worth $192,834,857 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,890,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,978 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,296,383,000 after buying an additional 1,083,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.