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

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

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Pivotal Research upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Two equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $687.00 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $387.10 and a 12-month high of $710.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $611.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $564.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.74% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 25.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. The trade was a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. 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.