Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $783.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $664.00 to $783.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $676.00 to $807.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $724.98.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $720.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $747.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $665.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $631.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $737.00, for a total value of $382,503.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,360,362. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 152,756 shares of company stock worth $104,720,878 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.