Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $840.00 Price Target at Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Royal Bank Of Canada from $740.00 to $840.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the social networking company's stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. TD Cowen increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $815.09.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded down $18.02 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $755.42. 8,418,796 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,580,731. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $450.80 and a twelve month high of $784.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.28. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $699.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $644.61.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 40.31% and a net margin of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $719.86, for a total value of $373,607.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 25,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,392,423. This trade represents a 1.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 152,980 shares of company stock valued at $105,708,832. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 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.