Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Receives $710.00 Average PT from Brokerages

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-four research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $712.69.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $710.24, for a total transaction of $9,796,340.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,862,237.92. The trade was a 19.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 124,312 shares of company stock worth $83,503,034 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $708.68 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $629.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $624.96. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.