Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $562.00 Price Target at Rosenblatt Securities

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective hoisted by Rosenblatt Securities from $520.00 to $562.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on META. Guggenheim increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $441.38 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.35, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $208.88 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $495.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $403.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.37% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Members Trust Co acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $267,000. Legacy Bridge LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC now owns 891 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 230.6% in the first quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong now owns 161,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $78,421,000 after buying an additional 112,652 shares during the period. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.8% in the first quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 8,424 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,090,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 39.0% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 49,537 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $24,121,000 after buying an additional 13,893 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.