Benchmark Reiterates “Hold” Rating for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by equities researchers at Benchmark in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on META. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 target price (up previously from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $687.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $611.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $564.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $387.10 and a 1 year high of $710.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.36, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $666.00, for a total value of $602,730.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,510,470. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.