Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Receives Underperform Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their underperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $441.38 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $495.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $403.40. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $208.88 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 68,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,574,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,574,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559 over the last 90 days. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.3% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,747 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,226,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 28.0% in the third quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,130 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 21.7% in the third quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $530,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11.3% in the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 7,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richelieu Gestion SA boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 29.1% in the third quarter. Richelieu Gestion SA now owns 2,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $779,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.