Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the forty brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, thirty-four have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $578.92.

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $660.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total transaction of $8,532,717.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,737,915.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total transaction of $11,150,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at $188,810,838.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total value of $8,532,717.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,461 shares in the company, valued at $117,737,915.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 365,761 shares of company stock worth $190,846,038. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 371 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $187,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Buckingham Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the second quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $564.41 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $507.58 and its 200 day moving average is $497.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.63, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $573.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

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.