Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Upgraded at HSBC

HSBC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have $900.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $610.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Wedbush lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $820.32.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.0%

NASDAQ:META opened at $750.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $450.80 and a fifty-two week high of $784.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $701.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $645.88.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $719.86, for a total transaction of $373,607.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 25,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,392,423. The trade was a 1.99% 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $715.00, for a total value of $369,655.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 5,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,136,275. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 152,980 shares of company stock valued at $105,708,832. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 valued at $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Pachira Investments Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the second quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.