Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $650.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective upped by Morgan Stanley from $615.00 to $650.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $695.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $688.63.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $572.21 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $576.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $603.54. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $432.28 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $706.72, for a total transaction of $9,169,692.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,588,349.12. The trade was a 7.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 237,017 shares of company stock valued at $167,207,524 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 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.