Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $555.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price raised by The Goldman Sachs Group from $500.00 to $555.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Roth Mkm reiterated a buy rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $505.75.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $500.23 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $207.13 and a 52-week high of $531.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $492.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $394.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.06 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,459,469 shares of company stock worth $691,726,161. 14.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.