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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Rating Increased to Buy at HSBC

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Key Points

  • HSBC upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating, increasing the price target from $610 to $900, indicating a potential upside of 16.35% from the last close.
  • Meta's stock rose by 11.3% following the announcement of a strong quarterly earnings report, where the company reported $7.14 earnings per share, surpassing estimates significantly.
  • Analysts have given varied ratings on Meta, with a majority (39 out of 46) rating the stock as a buy and an average target price of approximately $811.31.
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HSBC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. HSBC currently has $900.00 price objective on the social networking company's stock, up from their prior price objective of $610.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Roth Capital raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $815.09.

Read Our Latest Research Report on META

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $18.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $755.18. 9,094,918 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,585,335. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.34, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $450.80 and a 52-week high of $784.75. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $699.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $644.61.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 40.31% and a net margin of 39.99%. The company's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $719.86, for a total value of $373,607.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 25,550 shares in the company, valued at $18,392,423. The trade was a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 152,980 shares of company stock worth $105,708,832 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Meta Platforms

(Get Free Report)

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.

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