Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $725.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective upped by Raymond James from $675.00 to $725.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has a strong-buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $654.20.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $636.45 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $600.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $559.30. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $385.66 and a 52-week high of $638.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.98, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $559,290.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,663,600. This trade represents a 2.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 568,016 shares of company stock valued at $346,031,180. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares in the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $235,872,000 after acquiring an additional 5,594 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.