Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Receives $821.63 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifty research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $819.4565.

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, December 4th.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $647.51 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $664.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $707.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,570,306. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,432,843.65. The trade was a 82.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 40,458 shares of company stock valued at $25,436,200 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Smart Money Group LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 20.4% in the first quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 2,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 7.3% during the first quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 662 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Waddell & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,446,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. 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.