Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Receives “Hold” Rating from Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their hold rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on META. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective (up previously from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $689.18 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $387.10 and a 1-year high of $710.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The business’s 50 day moving average is $613.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $565.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.81, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.74% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 25.44 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total value of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares in the company, valued at $17,360,833.70. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 661,804 shares of company stock worth $407,745,741. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,087,000 after buying an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after acquiring an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.