Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 2.2% Higher – What’s Next?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares were up 2.2% on Monday . The company traded as high as $662.88 and last traded at $661.55. Approximately 11,795,780 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 10% from the average daily volume of 13,043,324 shares. The stock had previously closed at $647.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Barclays boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $654.20.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $606.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $562.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total transaction of $511,497.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the business’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 $29,776,261.56. This represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 602,612 shares of company stock worth $368,414,542 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,388,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,569,000 after acquiring an additional 17 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.