Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $715.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $675.00 to $715.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on META. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $645.80.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $630.20 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $590.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $550.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.68, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $352.05 and a 12 month high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid 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 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at $311,054,400. This represents a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 361,640 shares of company stock valued at $219,037,690 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during 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. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,266,531,000 after purchasing an additional 263,063 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,754,450 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,911,029,000 after purchasing an additional 208,677 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.