JMP Securities Boosts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $635.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target raised by JMP Securities from $550.00 to $635.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. TD Securities increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $591.23.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $567.36 on Thursday. 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 has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $577.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.59, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $516.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $499.63.

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. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 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 $4,714,502.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,285,234.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total value of $453,015.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,944,071.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 325,656 shares of company stock worth $171,028,659. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sage Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.0% in the second quarter. Sage Advisors LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,925,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 75.1% during the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 23,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $11,720,000 after buying an additional 9,972 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 20,112 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,141,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 926.6% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 733,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $369,774,000 after acquiring an additional 661,923 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is 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.