Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $652.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $647.00 to $652.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on META. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a market perform rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $598.08.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $595.94 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $524.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $501.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $596.85.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total transaction of $523,587.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,308,262.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total transaction of $523,587.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,102 shares in the company, valued at $20,308,262.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total value of $235,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 12,359 shares in the company, valued at $7,044,630. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 300,228 shares of company stock valued at $158,005,260. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 valued at $90,891,055,000 after buying an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake 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 valued at $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after buying an additional 2,748,620 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,582,876,000 after buying an additional 342,742 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.