Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) had its price target increased by Bank of America from $690.00 to $765.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the social networking company's stock.
Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $704.26.
View Our Latest Analysis on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.7%
Shares of META traded down $4.69 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $688.67. 1,422,079 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,453,577. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The firm's fifty day moving average is $600.62 and its 200-day moving average is $618.50.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.
Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms
In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction 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 now directly owns 118,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $82,928,955.27. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 86,201 shares of company stock valued at $56,377,837. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. 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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