Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Raised to $690.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target lifted by UBS Group from $635.00 to $690.00 in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Benchmark reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $608.58.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $583.83 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $536.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $504.92. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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 fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms 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 transaction of $859,886.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,238,845.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.27, for a total transaction of $859,886.24. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total transaction of $533,850.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,172,468.33. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 252,443 shares of company stock worth $133,105,284 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,538 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,022,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 11,286 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,995,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $433,000. Crosslink Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Crosslink Capital Inc. now owns 132,300 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $46,829,000 after acquiring an additional 12,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sirios Capital Management L P acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,459,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.