Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price boosted by UBS Group from $650.00 to $683.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Raymond James dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $688.63.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 4.2 %

NASDAQ META opened at $572.21 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $432.28 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $576.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $603.54. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total value of $502,101.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,488,983.09. The trade was a 3.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $555.54, for a total transaction of $337,768.32. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,798 shares in the company, valued at $2,109,940.92. The trade was a 13.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 237,017 shares of company stock valued at $167,207,524. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 255.9% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,709,694 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,001,044,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229,350 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.