Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Receives $826.05 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $830.0227.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $9,062,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,394,225. The trade was a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 213,663 shares of company stock valued at $164,570,329. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Park National Corp OH increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 62,149 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $45,641,000 after purchasing an additional 4,416 shares during the period. American National Bank of Texas bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $654,000. Vigilare Wealth Management boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vigilare Wealth Management now owns 3,029 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,224,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Hobart Private Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 25.9% in the third quarter. Hobart Private Capital LLC now owns 3,744 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,750,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the period. Finally, Rydar Equities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,044,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $717.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $753.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $673.09.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.60%.

About Meta Platforms

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.