Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Up 0.6% – Should You Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $557.88 and last traded at $557.57. Approximately 4,740,951 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 15,014,267 shares. The stock had previously closed at $554.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Bank of America raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.2 %

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $570.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $522.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The company has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.43, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $531.46, for a total value of $8,876,444.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 11,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,050,140.64. This represents a 59.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.05, for a total value of $469,740.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,568,394.35. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 185,958 shares of company stock valued at $101,181,747. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 48.8% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,886,000 after acquiring an additional 16,138 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 67,195 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $32,629,000 after acquiring an additional 12,301 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 541.8% in the 1st quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224 shares during the last quarter. Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,607,000. Finally, Point Break Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $2,481,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.