Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $765.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $688.00 to $765.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price target 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. Two investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.6 %

META stock 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 has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $387.10 and a fifty-two week high of $710.79. The business has a 50-day moving average of $611.00 and a 200-day moving average of $564.44.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 39.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 25.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was 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. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 30.3% during the 4th quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 465 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 5,465 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,200,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 15,725 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,207,000 after purchasing an additional 959 shares during the period. Hoge Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC now owns 2,248 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $648,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by 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.