Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $650.00 Price Target at Raymond James

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price raised by Raymond James from $600.00 to $650.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a strong-buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated an underperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $609.71.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $589.95 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $538.12 and a 200-day moving average of $505.67. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.89, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 252,443 shares of company stock worth $133,105,284 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by 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.