Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 0.2% on Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price was up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Monday 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 $570.38 and last traded at $568.26. Approximately 1,944,920 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 15,543,364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $567.36.

META has been the subject of several other reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $597.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,727 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.87, for a total transaction of $4,615,448.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 178,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,191,218.13. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,727 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.87, for a total transaction of $4,615,448.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 178,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,191,218.13. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 308,462 shares of company stock worth $162,308,065 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,597,382,000 after buying an additional 244,803 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after buying an additional 2,748,620 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,582,876,000 after buying an additional 342,742 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $519.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $500.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.