Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $750.00 at Robert W. Baird

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price hoisted by Robert W. Baird from $680.00 to $750.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $700.00 target price (up from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $687.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $387.10 and a 52 week high of $710.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $611.00 and its 200-day moving average is $564.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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 return on equity of 39.74% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 25.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This represents a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total value of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares in the company, valued at $17,360,833.70. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,266,531,000 after acquiring an additional 263,063 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,101,602,000 after buying an additional 186,728 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.