Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $700.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target increased by Truist Financial from $650.00 to $700.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on META. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna upped their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $638.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $595.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $585.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $541.23. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $340.01 and a 1 year high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at $29,776,261.56. The trade was a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 287,879 shares of company stock worth $174,127,704 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after buying an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $595,152,000. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,662,000 after buying an additional 890,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.