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

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:METAGet Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-four research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation, thirty-seven have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $710.00.

Several research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Benchmark decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st.

Get Our Latest Analysis on META

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $3,334,383.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 16,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,512 shares of company stock worth $73,590,232 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Valley Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of META stock opened at $695.77 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $612.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $621.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:METAGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

About Meta Platforms

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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.

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Analyst Recommendations for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

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