Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Rating Reiterated by Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their underperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports.

META has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler restated an overweight rating and issued a $545.00 price objective (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $550.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $511.27.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.1 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $504.68. 10,320,893 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,395,848. The company has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $274.38 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $480.00 and a 200-day moving average of $455.62.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.16 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at $300,466,976.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 630,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 201,969 shares of company stock valued at $98,106,233. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after purchasing an additional 51,900 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 4,054 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the period. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $182,289,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.