Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 1.2% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) were up 1.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $592.55 and last traded at $579.23. Approximately 23,274,227 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 45% from the average daily volume of 16,055,681 shares. The stock had previously closed at $572.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $856.00 to $765.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Pivotal Research dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $843.57.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $639.47 and a 200-day moving average of $662.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The business’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $366,571.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,797,952.54. This represents a 11.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 161,448 shares of company stock valued at $103,333,788. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.