Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Receives $835.64 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the forty-eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and five 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 $835.6429.

Several research firms recently issued reports on META. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,015.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 36,393 shares of company stock valued at $22,141,163 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Meta Platforms News

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A new free verification badge system for Facebook users, which may improve trust and platform quality. Fast Company article
• Positive Sentiment: A dedicated Marketplace seller app with tools for merchants, aimed at making Facebook commerce more useful and organized. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remained constructive, with articles highlighting Meta as a strong momentum stock and a potentially attractive AI-era value name.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment stayed favorable, including a report that Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta to $835.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $595.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $604.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $625.53. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 29.49 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.