Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $683.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price lifted by UBS Group from $650.00 to $683.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $688.63.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $572.21 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $576.50 and a 200 day moving average of $603.54. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $432.28 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 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 firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total value of $502,101.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,577 shares in the company, valued at $14,488,983.09. The trade was a 3.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $676.00, for a total value of $279,188.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,443,524. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 237,017 shares of company stock valued at $167,207,524 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 255.9% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,709,694 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,001,044,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,350 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.