Meta Platforms’ (META) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their hold rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Raymond James increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $520.28.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.1 %

META opened at $481.73 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $494.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $401.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $207.13 and a one year high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.00 EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,391,935 shares of company stock valued at $666,288,408 in the last ninety days. 14.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.3% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,856 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Bennett Selby Investments LP raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.0% during the third quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 36,738 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $11,029,000 after acquiring an additional 2,412 shares during the period. Cassia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the third quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,530 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $459,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.7% during the third quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,396 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Herbst Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $1,467,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.