Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $647.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $625.00 to $647.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an underperform rating and a $360.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $571.84.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META traded down $10.78 during trading on Thursday, hitting $477.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,563,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,388,426. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $274.38 and a twelve month high of $542.81. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $494.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $479.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business 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 company’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $268,606.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,819,124.11. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 576 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $268,606.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,819,124.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 310,685 shares of company stock worth $154,398,206 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth 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 first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $38,000. 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.