Bank of America Boosts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $900.00

Key Points

• Bank of America has raised its price target for Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00, indicating a potential upside of 29.46% from the company's previous close.
• Meta recently reported $7.14 earnings per share, surpassing expectations of $5.75, and achieved revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, a 21.6% increase from the previous year.
• Research analysts have given Meta an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price averaging $791.07, highlighting strong investor interest.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) had its price target raised by Bank of America from $775.00 to $900.00 in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company's stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on META. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 28th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $808.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $820.32.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $23.43 during trading on Thursday, reaching $750.01. 18,985,910 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,038,546. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $450.80 and a 52-week high of $784.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $701.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $646.12. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The firm's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $719.86, for a total transaction of $373,607.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,392,423. This represents a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total value of $336,232.20. Following the sale, the director owned 9,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,755,013.36. This represents a 4.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 152,980 shares of company stock worth $105,708,832. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oarsman Capital Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 5,885 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,344,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 2,749 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,029,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Motco raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter. Motco now owns 23,991 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $18,556,000 after acquiring an additional 2,694 shares during the last quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 3,321 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,451,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 420.0% during the 2nd quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 170,300 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $125,697,000 after acquiring an additional 137,550 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.