Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 2% – Time to Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) rose 2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $570.80 and last traded at $570.05. Approximately 9,656,064 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 16,755,729 shares. The stock had previously closed at $559.02.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Advertising growth and AI investment support the bull case. Meta’s advertising business continues to benefit from stronger user engagement, AI-powered ad tools and increased advertiser adoption, helping the company maintain an advantage over Snap and Reddit. The hiring of former OpenAI researcher Luke Metz for Meta’s Superintelligence Labs also underscores its effort to strengthen AI capabilities. META Rides on Ad Growth: Can It Stay Ahead of RDDT and SNAP? Former OpenAI researcher joins Meta
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional and market interest remains supportive. Reports that prominent investors purchased Meta shares during the second quarter, along with a broader rebound in some social-media stocks, may be reinforcing confidence in META’s long-term growth prospects. Two Legendary Investors Just Bought Meta Platforms Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider selling is drawing attention but lacks clear directional significance. Unusually active Meta insider-trading activity, particularly on August 18, could concern investors, though the report does not establish whether the transactions reflect fundamental deterioration or routine selling.
• Negative Sentiment: Child-safety litigation is the most significant near-term overhang. Instagram head Adam Mosseri is expected to testify in a lawsuit brought by 29 U.S. states alleging that Meta designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to children and misled consumers about platform safety. An adverse outcome could lead to fines, operational restrictions or costly redesigns of the services. Instagram head Adam Mosseri to testify at Meta trial
• Negative Sentiment: Recent earnings execution remains a concern. Meta’s latest quarterly EPS of $6.18 missed the $7.19 consensus estimate, despite revenue exceeding expectations and rising 28% year over year. Investors may therefore focus on whether heavy AI spending can translate into sustained earnings growth.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Citizens Jmp reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $770.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.32.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $592.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $613.84. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.47, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.14 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $869,922.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,092,006. This represents a 44.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total value of $280,780.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,671.08. This represents a 14.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 37,036 shares of company stock valued at $21,710,720 in the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.