Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 0.3%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price rose 0.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $539.77 and last traded at $537.71. Approximately 2,009,729 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 15,598,521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $536.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $505.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $496.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 357,987 shares of company stock worth $185,802,769 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Vantage Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 66.4% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rollins Financial grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 30,657 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,133 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.