Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 2.4% Higher

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price was up 2.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $498.76 and last traded at $493.22. Approximately 4,797,858 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 16,989,535 shares. The stock had previously closed at $481.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on META shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $520.28.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $494.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $401.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total transaction of $291,675.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,391,935 shares of company stock valued at $666,288,408. Insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.3% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,856 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,158,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.0% in the third quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 36,738 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $11,029,000 after acquiring an additional 2,412 shares during the last quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the third quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,530 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.7% in the third quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,396 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Herbst Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $1,467,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.