Guggenheim Increases Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $600.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target lifted by Guggenheim from $500.00 to $600.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on META. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets restated a market perform rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $571.84.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $8.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $489.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,338,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,362,201. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $274.38 and a twelve month high of $542.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $493.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $477.52. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at $35,190,573. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 310,685 shares of company stock worth $154,398,206. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after buying an additional 163,067 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after acquiring an additional 51,900 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 94.4% during the 4th quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP increased its position in Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after acquiring an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by 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.