Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $605.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price boosted by Robert W. Baird from $530.00 to $605.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an outperform rating and a $620.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $591.23.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $567.36 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $577.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $516.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $499.63. The company has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at $6,315,852.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total value of $453,015.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,845 shares in the company, valued at $18,944,071.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 325,656 shares of company stock worth $171,028,659. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vantage Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888,308 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 66.4% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rollins Financial boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 30,657 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,133 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Meta Platforms

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.