Brokerages Set Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) PT at $577.26

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $577.26.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total value of $449,775.95. Following the sale, the insider now owns 38,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,258,362.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total value of $449,775.95. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,750 shares in the company, valued at $19,258,362.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total transaction of $4,908,011.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 247,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,669,016.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 356,426 shares of company stock worth $185,053,425 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. S.A. Mason LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 371 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $187,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Buckingham Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the second quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $561.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $507.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $497.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $564.50. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.24, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $39.07 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

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.