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

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, thirty-three have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $571.84.

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 576 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $268,606.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,819,124.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 576 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $268,606.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,819,124.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $190,756.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,573,817. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 310,685 shares of company stock valued at $154,398,206 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $295,901,000 after buying an additional 163,067 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after purchasing an additional 51,900 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 94.4% during the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of META stock opened at $488.14 on Monday. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $274.38 and a 52-week high of $542.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $494.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $479.87. The company has a market capitalization of $1.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

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.