Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) were up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $509.39 and last traded at $508.56. Approximately 3,333,960 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 16,491,986 shares. The stock had previously closed at $498.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.05.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $479.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $452.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $2,386,617.30. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $2,386,617.30. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 232,607 shares of company stock worth $113,147,760 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,265,862,000 after acquiring an additional 51,900 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 94.4% during the 4th quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 4,054 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after acquiring an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $182,289,000 after acquiring an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.