Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Receives $609.71 Average Price Target from Analysts

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-two research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $613.46.

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total value of $533,850.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,197 shares in the company, valued at $20,172,468.33. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 249,826 shares of company stock worth $131,791,613. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ META opened at $590.42 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $540.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $506.41. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

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.