Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Rating Reiterated by Benchmark

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by stock analysts at Benchmark in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.28.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $496.10 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $207.13 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $495.52 and a 200-day moving average of $402.50. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock worth $657,034,449 in the last three months. 14.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.