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

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-three analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation, thirty-five have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $719.26.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 target price (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.00, for a total transaction of $370,272.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,904,886. This represents a 7.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $547,995.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,649,280. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 690,689 shares of company stock worth $451,269,409. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $607.60 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $658.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $603.19. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

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.