Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Upgraded at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

META has been the topic of several other reports. DA Davidson set a $825.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $915.00 to $850.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $980.00 price target (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $823.93.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $633.61 on Monday. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $688.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $706.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.99, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The firm’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. This represents a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $429,501.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at $3,570,306. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,959 shares of company stock valued at $26,759,811. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Advocates LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.2% during the third quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 7,131 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,237,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 696.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $15,496,000 after acquiring an additional 18,450 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.2% during the third quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 161 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $574,000. Finally, Connors Investor Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the third quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 31,341 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,016,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.