Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Raised to $562.00 at Rosenblatt Securities

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective hoisted by Rosenblatt Securities from $520.00 to $562.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Rosenblatt Securities currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the subject of several other reports. Roth Mkm restated a buy rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, March 18th. JMP Securities reiterated a market outperform rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $443.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $494.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $404.85. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $229.85 and a 52 week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.