Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Raised to $620.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective hoisted by Monness Crespi & Hardt from $570.00 to $620.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the subject of several other research reports. KeyCorp raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $598.08.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.6 %

META opened at $572.81 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $521.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $501.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $583.04.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total transaction of $235,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,044,630. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total value of $235,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,044,630. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 308,462 shares of company stock worth $162,308,065. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after buying an additional 4,440,229 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $595,152,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.