Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Cut to “Hold” at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank cut shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $827.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $609.01 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $719.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $704.38. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $9,062,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,394,225. This represents a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at $64,343,464.11. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 59,430 shares of company stock worth $45,313,988 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Intellectus Partners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the third quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 19,129 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $14,048,000 after buying an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter. Guardian Capital LP now owns 40,222 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $29,538,000 after acquiring an additional 10,620 shares during the period. Trustmark Bank Trust Department grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Trustmark Bank Trust Department now owns 23,845 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $17,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. One Wealth Map LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the third quarter. One Wealth Map LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Left Brain Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the third quarter. Left Brain Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $17,379,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in 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.