Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Earns “Overweight” Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reissued their overweight rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $660.00 target price on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the subject of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $598.08.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of META stock opened at $582.77 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $583.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $524.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $501.92.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total transaction of $523,587.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,308,262.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total transaction of $523,587.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 35,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,308,262.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.75, for a total transaction of $8,864,586.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,894,189. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 300,228 shares of company stock worth $158,005,260 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.