Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $811.00 Price Target at Rosenblatt Securities

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective boosted by Rosenblatt Securities from $643.00 to $811.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on META. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Loop Capital upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $591.23.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $567.36 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $516.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $499.63. The company has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $577.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 325,656 shares of company stock valued at $171,028,659. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Sage Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sage Advisors LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $2,925,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 75.1% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 23,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $11,720,000 after acquiring an additional 9,972 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 20,112 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,141,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in Meta Platforms by 926.6% during the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 733,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $369,774,000 after acquiring an additional 661,923 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.