Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Rating Increased to Hold at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) from an underperform rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $719.29.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $3.34 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $716.91. The company had a trading volume of 8,601,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,572,054. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $658.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $629.81. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $747.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $737.00, for a total value of $382,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,626 shares in the company, valued at $20,360,362. This trade represents a 1.84% 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 the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $740.97, for a total value of $383,081.49. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 7,853 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,818,837.41. The trade was a 6.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 154,285 shares of company stock worth $105,518,153 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.