Analysts Set Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Target Price at $519.53

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-four ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, thirty-eight have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $520.28.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Mizuho upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $481.73 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $494.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $401.23. The company has a market cap of $1.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $207.13 and a 1 year high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.00 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total transaction of $291,675.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,853,183.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total value of $7,722,037.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,391,935 shares of company stock valued at $666,288,408. Company insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.