Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Raised to $610.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective hoisted by UBS Group from $530.00 to $610.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $519.53.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $481.07 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $207.13 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $494.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $398.64. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.29, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.00 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,421,182 shares of company stock valued at $677,574,550. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $4,223,148,000. Morgan Stanley purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $4,072,543,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $1,796,633,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $1,731,491,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,647 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.