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

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

META has been the topic of several other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $651.27.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $616.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $598.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $558.31. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $381.16 and a 12-month high of $638.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total transaction of $237,128.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at $6,147,531.12. This represents a 3.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 531,190 shares of company stock worth $322,938,501 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.