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

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target increased by Morgan Stanley from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $735.00 to $795.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $807.00 to $828.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Moffett Nathanson raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Four 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $820.32.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.0%

NASDAQ:META opened at $750.01 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $450.80 and a 1 year high of $784.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $701.68 and a 200-day moving average of $645.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 1.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $715.00, for a total transaction of $369,655.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 5,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,136,275. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $719.86, for a total transaction of $373,607.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 25,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,392,423. The trade was a 1.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 152,980 shares of company stock valued at $105,708,832. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $129,666,000 after purchasing an additional 7,587 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,624,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,243,603,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by 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.