Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $720.00 at Truist Financial

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price boosted by Truist Financial from $700.00 to $720.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $685.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $688.63.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 4.2 %

Shares of META opened at $572.21 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $432.28 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $576.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $603.54.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $696.23, for a total transaction of $9,033,584.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 197,996 shares in the company, valued at $137,850,755.08. This trade represents a 6.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. The trade was a 8.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 237,017 shares of company stock worth $167,207,524 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Leelyn Smith LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $4,017,000. Private Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.8% during the first quarter. Private Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 32,588 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,782,000 after purchasing an additional 6,059 shares during the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 4,558 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,627,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the period. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,616 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,542,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.2% during the first quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,613 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,575,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191 shares during the last quarter. 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.