Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-three ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation, thirty-five have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $719.26.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on META. Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.00, for a total transaction of $593,124.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,860,580. This trade represents a 2.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at $209,199,589.06. This represents a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 761,002 shares of company stock valued at $495,449,598. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Valley Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $597.99 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $657.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $601.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

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.