Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $850.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective hoisted by Canaccord Genuity Group from $825.00 to $850.00 in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price 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. Roth Capital upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. TD Securities decreased their price objective 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, Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $736.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4%

META stock opened at $704.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $686.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $637.97. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $747.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at $82,928,955.27. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 153,764 shares of company stock valued at $105,721,208. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,743,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the second quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.