Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $590.00 at Citigroup

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price raised by Citigroup from $525.00 to $590.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Guggenheim lifted 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $509.90.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $494.17 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $493.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $396.70.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its 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 analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.06 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total value of $7,513,615.37. 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, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total transaction of $7,513,615.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.00, for a total value of $217,910.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 35,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,585,110. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,440,278 shares of company stock valued at $684,796,490. 14.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.