Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Increased to $665.00 by Analysts at Guggenheim

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

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a market perform rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $608.58.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $583.83 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $536.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $504.92. 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 has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.27, for a total value of $859,886.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,238,845.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.27, for a total value of $859,886.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,238,845.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at $39,285,234.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 252,443 shares of company stock valued at $133,105,284. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.