Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $600.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price raised by Raymond James from $550.00 to $600.00 in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a strong-buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on META. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $511.27.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $509.96 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $274.38 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $482.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $458.78.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.16 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total transaction of $253,697.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,579 shares in the company, valued at $3,924,027.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 251,905 shares of company stock worth $123,528,726. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its stake 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. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.