Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 0.3% Higher

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price shot up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $563.86 and last traded at $561.05. 4,441,563 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 15,584,706 shares. The stock had previously closed at $559.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on META shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 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 research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $505.40 and its 200 day moving average is $496.34.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total value of $486,636.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,848,320.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total value of $8,532,717.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 230,461 shares in the company, valued at $117,737,915.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total value of $486,636.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,848,320.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 356,426 shares of company stock worth $185,053,425. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 926.6% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 733,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $369,774,000 after purchasing an additional 661,923 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.6% in the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 14,495 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,309,000 after buying an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. American Trust grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the second quarter. American Trust now owns 3,267 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,647,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 46.4% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,023,000 after acquiring an additional 3,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $213,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.