Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the forty-four research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $701.05.

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Moffett Nathanson upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.5%

META opened at $627.06 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $574.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $609.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $3,334,383.52. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 16,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $686.28, for a total transaction of $417,258.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 9,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,361,815.60. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 77,157 shares of company stock worth $49,411,000 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.