Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $647.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $625.00 to $647.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on META. Barclays lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a market perform rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an outperform rating and a $620.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $571.84.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $488.14 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $542.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $494.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $479.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total value of $194,752.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at $7,268,235.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 310,685 shares of company stock valued at $154,398,206 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by 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.