Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Coverage Initiated at Scotiabank

by · The Markets Daily

Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) in a research report report published on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a sector perform rating and a $585.00 target price on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an underperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $613.46.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on META

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $590.42 on Friday. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.91, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $540.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $506.41. 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 (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 21.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at $311,493,681. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,493,681. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 249,826 shares of company stock worth $131,791,613. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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