Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $680.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target upped by Wedbush from $640.00 to $680.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q1 2025 earnings at $5.44 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $5.53 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $5.95 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $7.44 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $24.36 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $27.48 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on META. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. DA Davidson started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $645.80.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of META opened at $610.72 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $591.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $551.75. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $355.36 and a one year high of $638.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.77, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,641,281.24. This represents a 2.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 410,949 shares of company stock valued at $249,265,810. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.