Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the forty-three research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation, thirty-five have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $681.95.

Several research firms have issued reports on META. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $685.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $554.44 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $427.11 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $581.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $604.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 248,463 shares of company stock worth $175,403,314. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.