Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 0.9% Following Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price rose 0.9% during trading on Tuesday after Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on the stock from $570.00 to $620.00. Monness Crespi & Hardt currently has a buy rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $583.04 and last traded at $577.72. Approximately 5,722,944 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 15,548,877 shares. The stock had previously closed at $572.44.

META has been the topic of a number of other reports. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given 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 an average price target of $597.95.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total transaction of $5,699,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 328,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $187,314,333.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total value of $5,699,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 328,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $187,314,333.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 324,751 shares of company stock valued at $170,575,643. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after buying an additional 163,067 shares during the period. Voyager Global Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after acquiring an additional 140,000 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after acquiring an additional 5,953 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,962,767,000 after acquiring an additional 748,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ERn Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 59.0% during the first quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $802,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.9 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $517.89 and a 200 day moving average of $500.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

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.