Recent Investment Analysts’ Ratings Changes for Meta Platforms (META)

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) has recently received a number of price target changes and ratings updates:

• 4/18/2024 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from $535.00 to $590.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 4/17/2024 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. from $580.00 to $610.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 4/17/2024 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $525.00 to $550.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 4/16/2024 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at UBS Group AG from $530.00 to $610.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 4/16/2024 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $527.00 to $588.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 4/15/2024 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. from $500.00 to $555.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 4/15/2024 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Citigroup Inc. from $525.00 to $590.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 4/11/2024 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Piper Sandler from $525.00 to $600.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 4/8/2024 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. from $525.00 to $585.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 4/4/2024 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group Inc. from $550.00 to $585.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 4/3/2024 – Meta Platforms had its price target lowered by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $609.00 to $600.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 3/18/2024 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $536.00 to $609.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 3/18/2024 – Meta Platforms had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Roth Mkm. They now have a $500.00 price target on the stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $501.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $207.13 and a one year high of $531.49. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $494.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $397.43. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.00 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total transaction of $291,675.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,421,182 shares of company stock valued at $677,574,550. 13.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.5% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $499,020,000 after buying an additional 249,926 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 284.0% in the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $746,000 after buying an additional 2,482 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 26.9% in the first quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $420,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.