Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 421,932 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 24% compared to the typical daily volume of 339,187 call options.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $613.65 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $575.78 and its 200 day moving average is $528.92. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.90, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $313.66 and a 12 month high of $614.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total value of $511,596.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,362,687. This trade represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $215,586.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 13,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,098,156. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 105,334 shares of company stock valued at $59,210,941. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $408,000. Oriental Harbor Investment Fund purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $95,734,000. American Trust boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 112.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Trust now owns 6,930 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,967,000 after purchasing an additional 3,663 shares during the period. Old North State Trust LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the third quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $738,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,101,602,000 after purchasing an additional 186,728 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.71.

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.