Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price

by · The Cerbat Gem

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $652.00 to $641.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 12.42% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded up $2.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $570.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,800,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,140,163. The business’s fifty day moving average is $555.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $512.56. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.91, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $308.33 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 36.26%. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 21.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,285,234.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 251,573 shares of company stock valued at $133,019,910 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after buying an additional 2,748,620 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $595,152,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Meta Platforms

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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.

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