Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given Hold Rating at Benchmark

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

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $655.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $2.45 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $671.89. The company had a trading volume of 4,237,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,989,859. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $606.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $562.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $387.10 and a 1-year high of $682.58.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total value of $23,160,423.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $559,290.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,663,600. The trade was a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 602,612 shares of company stock worth $368,414,542 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,559,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 208.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 259 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 1,077 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 127.4% in the 2nd quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 5,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,797,000 after acquiring an additional 3,108 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $529,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.