Meta Platforms (META) Competitors

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Is AAPL or META a better dividend stock?

Apple pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms pays an annual dividend of $2.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple pays out 15.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Meta Platforms pays out 7.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Apple has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Meta Platforms has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Apple is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is AAPL or META more profitable?

Meta Platforms has a net margin of 39.99% compared to Apple's net margin of 24.30%. Apple's return on equity of 170.91% beat Meta Platforms' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Apple	24.30%	170.91%	31.94%
Meta Platforms	39.99%	39.33%	25.83%

Which has more volatility & risk, AAPL or META?

Apple has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Meta Platforms has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of AAPL or META?

67.7% of Apple shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.9% of Meta Platforms shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Apple shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.6% of Meta Platforms shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, AAPL or META?

Apple has higher revenue and earnings than Meta Platforms. Meta Platforms is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Apple, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Apple	$391.04B	9.88	$93.74B	$6.59	39.49
Meta Platforms	$164.50B	11.32	$62.36B	$27.62	26.85

Do analysts recommend AAPL or META?

Apple presently has a consensus target price of $252.47, suggesting a potential downside of 2.99%. Meta Platforms has a consensus target price of $829.66, suggesting a potential upside of 11.89%. Given Meta Platforms' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Meta Platforms is more favorable than Apple.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Apple	2 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	16 Buy rating(s)	4 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Meta Platforms	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	39 Buy rating(s)	5 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.02

Does the media refer more to AAPL or META?

In the previous week, Apple had 114 more articles in the media than Meta Platforms. MarketBeat recorded 274 mentions for Apple and 160 mentions for Meta Platforms. Meta Platforms' average media sentiment score of 0.99 beat Apple's score of 0.94 indicating that Meta Platforms is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Apple	185 Very Positive mention(s)	25 Positive mention(s)	39 Neutral mention(s)	15 Negative mention(s)	5 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Meta Platforms	116 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	15 Neutral mention(s)	18 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Meta Platforms beats Apple on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.