Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $610.00 at Canaccord Genuity Group

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target raised by Canaccord Genuity Group from $580.00 to $610.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on META. UBS Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $518.15.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $494.17 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.17, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $493.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $396.70. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $207.13 and a 52 week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.00 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 13.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total value of $253,697.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,579 shares in the company, valued at $3,924,027.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total transaction of $7,513,615.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total transaction of $253,697.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,579 shares in the company, valued at $3,924,027.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,440,278 shares of company stock worth $684,796,490. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $4,223,148,000. Morgan Stanley acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,072,543,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,796,633,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $1,731,491,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after buying an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.