Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given Overweight Rating at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $790.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $583.93 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.41, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $653.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $610.50.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $547,995.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,649,280. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total transaction of $342,322.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,507,676.90. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 584,113 shares of company stock valued at $385,838,234. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.