Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $640.00 to $660.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on META. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.37.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $3.36 on Thursday, hitting $570.94. 8,536,840 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,126,646. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $308.33 and a 52-week high of $602.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $555.21 and its 200 day moving average is $512.56.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.26% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 21.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 251,573 shares of company stock worth $133,019,910. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,431,000. Equitable Trust Co. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 62.3% in the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 17,045 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,757,000 after buying an additional 6,541 shares in the last quarter. Beckerman Institutional LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $1,469,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,009 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,157,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.3% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 30,347 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $17,372,000 after acquiring an additional 3,075 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.