Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 3.1%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price shot up 3.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $555.10 and last traded at $554.50. 3,966,639 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 15,581,739 shares. The stock had previously closed at $537.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $505.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $496.34. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total transaction of $449,775.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,258,362.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total value of $449,775.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,750 shares in the company, valued at $19,258,362.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total transaction of $8,532,717.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,737,915.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 357,575 shares of company stock worth $185,595,945. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vantage Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888,308 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 66.4% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594 shares during the period. Finally, Rollins Financial raised its position in Meta Platforms by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 30,657 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,133 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.