Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $590.00 at Sanford C. Bernstein

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective upped by Sanford C. Bernstein from $535.00 to $590.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Roth Mkm restated a buy rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $519.53.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $501.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $207.13 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $494.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $397.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given 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, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total value of $7,722,037.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total value of $7,722,037.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,421,182 shares of company stock worth $677,574,550. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 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.