Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $635.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price increased by UBS Group from $630.00 to $635.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Citigroup reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $571.84.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $488.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $494.09 and its 200-day moving average is $479.09. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $274.38 and a 1-year high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total value of $483,224.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,724,113. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 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 value of $4,223,529.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 310,685 shares of company stock valued at $154,398,206. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. S.A. Mason LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Northern Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 435 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.