Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $780.00 Price Target at Monness Crespi & Hardt

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price lifted by Monness Crespi & Hardt from $775.00 to $780.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on META. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $688.63.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $572.21 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $576.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $603.54. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $432.28 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total transaction of $502,101.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,488,983.09. This trade represents a 3.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 237,017 shares of company stock valued at $167,207,524. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Valley Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.