Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Rating Reiterated by JMP Securities

JMP Securities reiterated their market outperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $550.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Benchmark restated a hold rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $441.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $495.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $403.40. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $208.88 and a 52-week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total transaction of $228,664.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total transaction of $228,664.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559 in the last 90 days. 13.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.