Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 1% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was up 1% on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $660.00 to $725.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $611.52 and last traded at $603.34. Approximately 3,496,362 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 14,680,300 shares. The stock had previously closed at $597.19.

META has been the topic of several other reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $638.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,131 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $652,767.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,229 shares in the company, valued at $709,329.64. This represents a 47.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. This represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 287,879 shares of company stock worth $174,127,704 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $585.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $541.23. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

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.