Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $786.00 at UBS Group

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target increased by UBS Group from $736.00 to $786.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $687.00 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $611.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $564.44. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $387.10 and a 1-year high of $710.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total transaction of $24,195,307.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,360,833.70. This trade represents 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 worth $407,745,741 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Opes Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,155 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,235 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,822,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 3,703 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,168,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,167 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,440,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Copperleaf Capital LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Copperleaf Capital LLC now owns 4,406 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,580,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.