JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $660.00 to $725.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 25th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $638.00.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of META traded up $6.91 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $604.10. The company had a trading volume of 3,171,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,678,674. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $585.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $540.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $340.01 and a 52-week high of $638.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $2,918,698.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 8,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,943,375.40. This trade represents a 37.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 287,387 shares of company stock valued at $173,791,857. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Central Valley Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the third quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 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.