Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given Market Perform Rating at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets restated their market perform rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $450.00 price objective on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the topic of a number of other reports. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an underperform rating and a $360.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $550.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Benchmark reiterated a hold rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $510.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $508.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $480.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $439.92. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $268.32 and a one year high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.16 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at $300,466,976.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 514,525 shares of company stock worth $253,108,340 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. S.A. Mason LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the first quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its position in Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the first quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 435 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LongView Wealth Management increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the first quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $856,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.