Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $555.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target boosted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $500.00 to $555.00 in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $519.53.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.5 %

META opened at $501.80 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $494.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $397.43. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $207.13 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.54, for a total transaction of $7,568,131.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,421,182 shares of company stock valued at $677,574,550 over the last three months. 13.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.5% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $499,020,000 after buying an additional 249,926 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 284.0% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $746,000 after buying an additional 2,482 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 400 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.