Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 0.2% – What’s Next?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price traded down 0.2% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $593.77 and last traded at $594.92. 4,217,577 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 15,463,442 shares. The stock had previously closed at $595.94.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $598.08.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $527.07 and its 200 day moving average is $502.63.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. As a group, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total transaction of $523,587.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,308,262.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total transaction of $523,587.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,308,262.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,852.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 283,526 shares of company stock valued at $149,140,674. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after buying an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,620 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,582,876,000 after purchasing an additional 342,742 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.