Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $730.00 at Wolfe Research

by · The Markets Daily

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) had its target price upped by Wolfe Research from $670.00 to $730.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $670.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $642.88.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $604.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.48, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $343.40 and a 1-year high of $638.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $589.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $549.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total transaction of $22,746,973.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 326,624 shares of company stock worth $197,875,975. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% during the third quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Meta Platforms

(Get Free Report)

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.

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