Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $610.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target boosted by Canaccord Genuity Group from $580.00 to $610.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on META. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm restated a buy rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $519.53.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.1 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $481.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $494.55 and a 200-day moving average of $398.64. The company has a market cap of $1.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.29, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $207.13 and a one year high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total transaction of $291,675.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 2,025 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $958,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,757,883.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,421,182 shares of company stock valued at $677,574,550. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 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.