Monness Crespi & Hardt Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price increased by Monness Crespi & Hardt from $620.00 to $660.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.37.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6 %

META stock traded up $3.36 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $570.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,536,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,126,646. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $308.33 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $555.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $512.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 36.26%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 21.47 EPS 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 issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. 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 251,573 shares of company stock worth $133,019,910 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Central Valley Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,560 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,038,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.