Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $675.00 at Mizuho

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective increased by Mizuho from $650.00 to $675.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on META. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $647.00 to $652.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.37.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META traded up $3.36 on Thursday, hitting $570.94. The company had a trading volume of 8,536,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,126,646. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $308.33 and a 12-month high of $602.95. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $555.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $512.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 36.26%. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 21.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,285,234.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total value of $524,990.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,262,708.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 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 $4,714,502.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at $39,285,234.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 251,573 shares of company stock worth $133,019,910. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Central Valley Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,271,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the third quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,560 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,038,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 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.