Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Increased to $650.00 by Analysts at Truist Financial

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective boosted by Truist Financial from $570.00 to $650.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on META. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an underperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $609.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:META traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $585.09. 810,443 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,322,493. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $536.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $504.92. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.85, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.21%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total value of $533,850.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,172,468.33. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total value of $533,850.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,172,468.33. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 252,443 shares of company stock valued at $133,105,284. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.