Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Raised to $665.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price increased by Guggenheim from $600.00 to $665.00 in a research note published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on META. Bank of America increased 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, September 26th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and set a $660.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an outperform rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-five 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 price target of $605.33.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $590.51 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $534.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $504.36. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The company 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%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 266,412 shares of company stock worth $140,058,708 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $295,901,000 after buying an additional 163,067 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,962,767,000 after buying an additional 748,076 shares in the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 59.0% during the 1st quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $802,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the period. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by 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.