Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Increased to $650.00 by Analysts at Truist Financial

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price upped by Truist Financial from $570.00 to $650.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $660.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a market outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a buy rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $609.71.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $589.95 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $538.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $505.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total value of $533,850.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,197 shares in the company, valued at $20,172,468.33. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total transaction of $533,850.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,172,468.33. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $190,756.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,573,817. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 252,443 shares of company stock valued at $133,105,284 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the first 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. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.