Meta Platforms’ (META) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Wedbush

Wedbush restated their outperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a research note published on Wednesday morning,RTT News reports. The brokerage currently has a $700.00 price objective on the social networking company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $680.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $652.98.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of META stock opened at $623.50 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $382.08 and a 1 year high of $638.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $598.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $558.76. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total value of $237,128.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,147,531.12. This represents a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 567,111 shares of company stock worth $345,453,784 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 35.1% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 27,272 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,751,000 after buying an additional 7,089 shares during the last quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 55.9% during the second quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 1,624 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $819,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the period. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. now owns 90,060 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $45,410,000 after acquiring an additional 5,250 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 111,306 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $56,123,000 after acquiring an additional 4,487 shares during the period. Finally, Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,095 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.