Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Receives $638.00 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the forty-three ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $638.00.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,131 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $652,767.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,329.64. The trade was a 47.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 326,211 shares of company stock worth $197,633,759 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% in the third quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $585.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $340.01 and a 52-week high of $638.40. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $588.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $547.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

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.