Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Receives $826.05 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $830.0227.

A number of analysts have recently commented on META shares. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $980.00 price objective (up from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $710.56 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $753.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $674.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.60%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $748.72, for a total value of $387,088.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,506,666.72. This represents a 4.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $757.47, for a total transaction of $352,223.55. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,371,837.64. This trade represents a 5.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 214,182 shares of company stock valued at $164,955,168 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. 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.