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

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifty research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $821.6304.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Benchmark lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $915.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $642.22, for a total value of $333,312.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,734 shares in the company, valued at $19,737,989.48. This represents a 1.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total transaction of $365,610.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,476,894.45. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 41,440 shares of company stock worth $26,233,492 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Smart Money Group LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 20.4% during the first quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 2,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 7.3% in the first quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 662 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waddell & Associates LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the first quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $650.13 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $668.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $707.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28. 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 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.28%.

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.