Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 2.7% – Here’s Why

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) rose 2.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $587.77 and last traded at $587.29. Approximately 3,747,679 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 15,083,845 shares. The stock had previously closed at $572.05.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $558.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $514.71.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,852.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,852.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 243,919 shares of company stock worth $129,296,067 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 48.8% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,886,000 after buying an additional 16,138 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.8% during the first quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 18,773 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,116,000 after buying an additional 1,033 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.5% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 575,938 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $279,663,000 after buying an additional 124,357 shares in the last quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.6% during the first quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,428,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.0% during the first quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,781 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,781,000 after buying an additional 1,401 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.