Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) had its price target raised by Scotiabank from $525.00 to $675.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the social networking company's stock.
A number of other brokerages also recently commented on META. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $740.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $752.33.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on META
Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.2%
NASDAQ:META traded up $8.77 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $713.58. 8,723,787 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,301,969. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.83, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $747.90. The firm's 50 day moving average is $689.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $640.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.
Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms
In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at $82,928,955.27. This trade represents a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 152,954 shares of company stock valued at $105,433,784. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Meta Platforms
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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.
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