Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 1.2% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares were up 1.2% during trading on Monday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $580.00 to $645.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $573.98 and last traded at $568.12. Approximately 4,004,732 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 15,617,740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $561.35.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms 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-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $578.92.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $231,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,152,320. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $231,280.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,772 shares in the company, valued at $7,152,320. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 349,472 shares of company stock valued at $182,544,600 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Vantage Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after buying an additional 3,888,308 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 722 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 66.4% in the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after buying an additional 1,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rollins Financial lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 30,657 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,851,000 after buying an additional 2,133 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $508.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $497.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.