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

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-three analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $681.95.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $628.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.9 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $554.44 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $427.11 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $581.11 and its 200-day moving average is $604.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total value of $453,012.27. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,525,441.26. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,265,707.52. The trade was a 8.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 248,463 shares of company stock worth $175,403,314 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.