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

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their overweight rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $660.00 target price on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on META. Citigroup increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a buy rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $578.92.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $568.31 on Monday. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $576.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $512.54 and a 200-day moving average of $498.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 359,060 shares of company stock worth $188,031,963. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $295,901,000 after acquiring an additional 163,067 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,265,862,000 after acquiring an additional 51,900 shares during the period. Voyager Global Management LP increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after acquiring an additional 140,000 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,953 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.0% during the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,962,767,000 after purchasing an additional 748,076 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.