Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $705.00 Price Target at Barclays

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price increased by Barclays from $630.00 to $705.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $687.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $611.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $564.44. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $387.10 and a 1 year high of $710.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 25.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. 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 8.36%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total value of $511,497.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,581 shares in the company, valued at $17,360,833.70. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $2,918,698.12. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 8,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,943,375.40. The trade was a 37.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 17 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.