Equities researchers at China Renaissance Securities initiated coverage on shares of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, May 29th, The Fly reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock. China Renaissance Securities’ target price indicates a potential upside of 28.18% from the stock’s previous close.
Several other research analysts also recently commented on FB. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Facebook from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Nomura lifted their price target on Facebook from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. BidaskClub raised Facebook from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. DZ Bank raised Facebook from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $187.00 price objective (down previously from $205.00) on shares of Facebook in a report on Monday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and forty-two have given a buy rating to the company. Facebook presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $210.44.
Shares of FB stock traded up $1.61 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $191.14. The company had a trading volume of 22,600,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,565,848. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 5.38 and a current ratio of 5.38. Facebook has a one year low of $123.02 and a one year high of $218.62. The company has a market capitalization of $545.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.96.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.80). Facebook had a net margin of 33.17% and a return on equity of 23.67%. The company had revenue of $15.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Facebook will post 8 EPS for the current fiscal year.
In other Facebook news, CRO David B. Fischer sold 5,438 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.29, for a total value of $1,056,549.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Colin Stretch sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.85, for a total value of $125,887.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 103,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,309,027.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,550,354 shares of company stock worth $275,335,174. Insiders own 14.53% of the company’s stock.
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dubuque Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Facebook by 13.8% during the third quarter. Dubuque Bank & Trust Co. now owns 44,340 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,292,000 after buying an additional 5,368 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its holdings in Facebook by 2,679.1% during the third quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 28,680 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,717,000 after buying an additional 27,648 shares in the last quarter. Reliance Trust Co. of Delaware boosted its holdings in Facebook by 23.9% during the third quarter. Reliance Trust Co. of Delaware now owns 9,481 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,559,000 after buying an additional 1,831 shares in the last quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP boosted its holdings in Facebook by 2.6% during the third quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 40,851 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Regentatlantic Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Facebook by 205.4% during the third quarter. Regentatlantic Capital LLC now owns 23,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,891,000 after buying an additional 15,911 shares in the last quarter. 61.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
About Facebook
Facebook, Inc provides various products to connect and share through mobile devices, personal computers, and other surfaces 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 messages; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, groups, and businesses across platforms and devices; and WhatsApp, a messaging application for use by people and businesses to communicate in a private way.
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