Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their overweight rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $660.00 target price on the social networking company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ FY2024 earnings at $22.46 EPS.

META has been the topic of several other reports. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $608.58.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $583.83 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $536.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $504.92. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.27, for a total transaction of $859,886.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,238,845.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.42, for a total transaction of $453,785.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,068,669.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.27, for a total value of $859,886.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,238,845.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 252,443 shares of company stock valued at $133,105,284. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.