JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) had its price target raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $610.00 to $675.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the social networking company's stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on META. Citigroup reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $655.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $615.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded up $24.81 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $597.02. 24,702,127 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,463,489. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $575.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $603.62. The company has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. The business's revenue was up 16.1% 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total transaction of $502,101.57. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,577 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,488,983.09. This represents a 3.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 308,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 237,017 shares of company stock valued at $167,207,524. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Saturna Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.1% in the first quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 4,439 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,558,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the first quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $836,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 280,081 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $161,427,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 900 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $519,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burling Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Burling Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,884 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $6,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318 shares during 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.