Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Receives Outperform Rating from Wedbush

Wedbush restated their outperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a research report report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $700.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $680.00. Wedbush also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q2 2025 earnings at $5.80 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $6.03 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $24.71 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $27.86 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on META. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $654.20.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $647.49 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $601.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $560.12. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $385.66 and a 52-week high of $652.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The company has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $559,290.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,663,600. The trade was a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 568,016 shares of company stock valued at $346,031,180 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after buying an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by 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.