The Goldman Sachs Group Boosts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $555.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target boosted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $500.00 to $555.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the subject of several other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $405.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $465.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $509.90.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $494.17 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $207.13 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company’s 50 day moving average is $493.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $396.70.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.00 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.06 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total value of $7,513,615.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total transaction of $7,513,615.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,440,278 shares of company stock valued at $684,796,490 over the last 90 days. 14.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. S.A. Mason LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. LongView Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the first quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $856,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the first quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,247 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $648,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monterey Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the first quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. now owns 1,379 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $670,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.