Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Expected to Rise, DA Davidson Analyst Says

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price boosted by analysts at DA Davidson from $700.00 to $800.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. DA Davidson’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 16.08% from the company’s previous close. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q1 2025 earnings at $5.45 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on META. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price target (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price objective (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $689.18 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $387.10 and a 12 month high of $710.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $613.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $565.78.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 39.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 25.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total transaction of $24,195,307.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at $11,018,473.83. This represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 65 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.