Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $600.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price upped by Raymond James from $550.00 to $600.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Raymond James currently has a strong-buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $511.27.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $509.96 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.29, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $481.05 and a 200-day moving average of $458.42. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $274.38 and a 12-month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.08, for a total transaction of $8,402,442.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 204,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,769,182.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.08, for a total value of $8,402,442.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 204,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,769,182.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 252,395 shares of company stock valued at $123,781,816 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the second quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,134 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $17,211,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 24,969 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,590,000 after buying an additional 882 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 2,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,411,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 6,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,138,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.8% in the second quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 12,825 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,467,000 after acquiring an additional 1,349 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.