Meta Platforms' (META) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reissued their overweight rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $676.00 price objective on the social networking company's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wedbush upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $704.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $1.37 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $692.77. 4,552,622 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,483,092. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The firm's 50-day moving average is $597.08 and its 200-day moving average is $617.62.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,802 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.96, for a total transaction of $5,476,691.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $77,550,434.92. The trade was a 6.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 85,682 shares of company stock valued at $56,014,018. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,658,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $2,990,544,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,243,603,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by 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.