Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Receives $519.53 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-three research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $509.18.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559 over the last ninety days. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the first quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 435 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. LongView Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the first quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Madison Wealth Partners Inc boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $443.29 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $494.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $404.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $229.85 and a 12-month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend 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%.

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.