Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Increased to $600.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price increased by Evercore ISI from $550.00 to $600.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the topic of several other reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets restated a market perform rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $571.84.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded down $11.32 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $476.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,776,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,403,281. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $542.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $494.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $479.87.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total transaction of $194,752.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,268,235.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 310,685 shares of company stock valued at $154,398,206. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. 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 valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.