Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation, thirty-four have assigned a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $840.6429.

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded Meta Platforms from a “positive” rating to a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is being viewed more favorably by some analysts because its AI-powered ads are reportedly improving advertiser returns, which supports revenue growth and suggests its AI spending is starting to pay off. Meta’s Capex Is Paying Off, But The Market Doesn’t Care
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Meta may rent out excess GPU capacity and build a cloud-computing business are boosting sentiment, since investors see a potential new monetization avenue beyond digital advertising. Meta’s push into cloud computing means Wall Street has to prepare for lower margins
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s broader AI strategy is also getting support from bullish coverage that argues the company is chasing a huge enterprise AI-compute opportunity and could eventually re-rate higher if execution improves. Senior Analyst: Meta Is Chasing A $2 Trillion AI Compute Opportunity, But It’s Years Behind
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta remains a highly followed stock, with traders and analysts continuing to debate whether its AI investment cycle will translate into sustainable earnings growth or just higher spending. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
• Negative Sentiment: Zuckerberg also acknowledged that Meta’s AI agents are progressing slower than expected, which reinforces investor concerns that some of the company’s ambitious AI initiatives may take longer to monetize. Zuckerberg says AI agent development going slower than expected
• Negative Sentiment: India reportedly asked Meta to delay its WhatsApp username rollout over fraud concerns, creating a potential regulatory hurdle for one of Meta’s most important messaging growth initiatives. India asks Meta to hold WhatsApp username rollout over fraud fears

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $84,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,707,600. This trade represents a 1.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 39,013 shares of company stock valued at $24,115,999 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Keybank National Association OH boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $88,319,000 after purchasing an additional 18,169 shares during the period. WMS Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $876,000. Becker Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $25,741,000 after buying an additional 1,657 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,487,000 after buying an additional 3,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.2% during the third quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,091,000 after buying an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of META opened at $582.88 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $602.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $628.06.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 29.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.