Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by JMP Securities

JMP Securities reaffirmed their market outperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $550.00 price objective on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $520.28.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $481.73 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $494.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $401.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 2,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $958,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,757,883.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,391,935 shares of company stock valued at $666,288,408 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $11,029,000 after purchasing an additional 2,412 shares during the last quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the third quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,530 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.7% in the third quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,396 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Herbst Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $1,467,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.