Meta Platforms’ (META) Underperform Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their underperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Benchmark restated a hold rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

META stock opened at $443.29 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $229.85 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50 day moving average is $494.48 and its 200-day moving average is $404.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total value of $245,578.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,552,865.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,747 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,226,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,130 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $530,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 7,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richelieu Gestion SA grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Richelieu Gestion SA now owns 2,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $779,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.