Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Receives “Strong-Buy” Rating from Raymond James

Raymond James reiterated their strong-buy rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $800.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $725.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective 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. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 target price (up from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

META opened at $689.18 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $613.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $566.31. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $387.10 and a fifty-two week high of $710.79. The company has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. 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) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 39.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 25.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total transaction of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. This represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 661,804 shares of company stock worth $407,745,741. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. 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.