Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) had its target price boosted by Morgan Stanley from $340.00 to $345.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, The Fly reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.
Several other brokerages have also commented on FB. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a buy rating and set a $355.00 target price on shares of Facebook in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Facebook from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 21st. Moffett Nathanson upped their target price on Facebook from $285.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Friday, January 15th. Barclays upped their target price on Facebook from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Facebook from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Facebook has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $319.80.
NASDAQ FB opened at $258.33 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $268.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $267.31. Facebook has a 12 month low of $137.10 and a 12 month high of $304.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $735.80 billion, a PE ratio of 29.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.18.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 27th. The social networking company reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.24 by $0.64. Facebook had a return on equity of 23.27% and a net margin of 32.00%. The firm had revenue of $28.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 33.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Facebook will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.
In related news, CRO David B. Fischer sold 13,118 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.02, for a total transaction of $3,620,830.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Jennifer Newstead sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.08, for a total value of $86,204.80. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $205,501.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,404,525 shares of company stock valued at $382,888,556 over the last ninety days. 14.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SB Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Facebook in the third quarter worth $2,222,276,000. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its position in Facebook by 15.0% in the third quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 12,282,314 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,216,738,000 after buying an additional 1,598,856 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Facebook by 5.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 21,019,784 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,505,081,000 after buying an additional 1,098,694 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Facebook by 11.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,775,009 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,560,074,000 after buying an additional 1,013,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Facebook by 6.4% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,755,901 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,126,470,000 after buying an additional 948,608 shares during the last quarter. 64.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
About Facebook
Facebook, Inc develops products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and in-home devices worldwide. The company's products include Facebook that enables people to connect, share, discover, and communicate with each other on mobile devices and personal computers; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, groups, and businesses across platforms and devices; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate in a private way.
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