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

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-eight research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirty-seven have given a buy recommendation and four have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $827.6047.

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $825.00 price objective (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.00, for a total value of $326,227.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 6,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,369,044. This represents a 6.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 516 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.00, for a total transaction of $325,596.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,860,951. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 44,421 shares of company stock worth $33,573,980. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after acquiring an additional 8,405,558 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,990,544,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $609.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $713.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $705.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

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.