Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 1.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares rose 1.2% on Monday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $580.00 to $645.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $573.98 and last traded at $568.12. Approximately 4,004,732 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 15,617,740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $561.35.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $578.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total transaction of $449,775.95. Following the sale, the insider now owns 38,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,258,362.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 346,666 shares of company stock worth $180,145,414. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.2 %

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 has a 50 day moving average of $507.58 and a 200-day moving average of $497.28. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.63, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

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.