Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Raised to $645.00 at Citigroup

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target upped by Citigroup from $580.00 to $645.00 in a research note published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. 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 report on Monday, July 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $578.92.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $568.31 on Monday. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $576.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $512.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $498.54. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,852.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were 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 owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at $6,315,852.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.96, for a total transaction of $8,600,861.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 213,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,690,084.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 359,060 shares of company stock worth $188,031,963. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after buying an additional 163,067 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after acquiring an additional 51,900 shares during the last quarter. Voyager Global Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after acquiring an additional 140,000 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after acquiring an additional 5,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.0% during the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,962,767,000 after purchasing an additional 748,076 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by 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.