Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Increased to $530.00 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price raised by Robert W. Baird from $500.00 to $530.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on META. Citigroup reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an underperform rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $571.84.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $10.78 on Thursday, reaching $477.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,563,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,388,426. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.86, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $274.38 and a 12-month high of $542.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $494.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $479.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $2,386,617.30. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $2,386,617.30. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $159,759,417.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 310,685 shares of company stock worth $154,398,206. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,265,862,000 after acquiring an additional 51,900 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 94.4% during the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after acquiring an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.