Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Receives $840.60 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-eight analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation, thirty-five have given a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $840.5952.

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, June 1st.

Meta Platforms News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta announced a partnership with Associated Builders and Contractors to launch a $115 million workforce academy that will train construction technicians for its data center projects, helping address labor shortages and supporting its AI infrastructure expansion. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Italy’s competition regulator dropped its investigation into Meta’s WhatsApp AI bot, removing a legal overhang tied to how the company integrates AI into WhatsApp. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also partnered with Best Buy to create “Meta Lab” experiential spaces where shoppers can test VR headsets and AI glasses, which could help boost hardware awareness and adoption. Article Title

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total transaction of $317,162.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,481,290.47. This represents a 11.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928 in the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ META opened at $585.39 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $619.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $636.72.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.