Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $590.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price lifted by Stifel Nicolaus from $550.00 to $590.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on META. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $571.84.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.8 %

META stock traded down $13.64 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $474.50. The company had a trading volume of 15,321,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,410,943. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $542.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $494.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $479.87. The stock has a market cap of $1.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.86, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $159,759,417.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $2,386,617.30. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total value of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at $159,759,417.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 310,685 shares of company stock worth $154,398,206. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 85.4% in the fourth quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,629 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132 shares during the last quarter. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $626,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 12,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,315,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Arcadia Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. Finally, Parcion Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,658 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $941,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.