Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-four brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, thirty-seven have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $509.80.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $471.85 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $235.33 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market cap of $1.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $488.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $417.78.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 2,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $958,392.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,053 shares in the company, valued at $4,757,883.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,058,103 shares of company stock valued at $519,622,135. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.2% in the first quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,485 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $721,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,913,000. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $63,708,000. Cloverfields Capital Group LP boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Cloverfields Capital Group LP now owns 16,053 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,795,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.4% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 57,803 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,068,000 after buying an additional 3,484 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.