Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $640.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $610.00 to $640.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on META. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued an underperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $591.23.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $567.36 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $516.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $499.60. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $577.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.59, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 21.36 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total transaction of $5,699,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 328,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $187,314,333.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total transaction of $5,699,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 328,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $187,314,333.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total transaction of $453,015.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,944,071.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 342,358 shares of company stock valued at $179,431,101 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during 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 period. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is 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.