Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $808.00 Price Target at Monness Crespi & Hardt

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective cut by Monness Crespi & Hardt from $860.00 to $808.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on META. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $811.00 to $837.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Oppenheimer cut Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, HSBC upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $827.60.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $666.47 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $740.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $695.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.69% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $9,062,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at $1,394,225. This represents a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. This represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 198,335 shares of company stock worth $153,047,009 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the third quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 2,530 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Ardent Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ardent Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,040 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $17,654,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Westfuller Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 75.5% in the 3rd quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC now owns 1,729 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,270,000 after purchasing an additional 744 shares during the period. Delta Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,302 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,894,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Finally, Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 2,474 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.