Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $650.00 to $670.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $632.50 and last traded at $632.27, with a volume of 1143796 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $619.32.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank cut their target price 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. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $635.20.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total transaction of $11,150,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 338,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $188,810,838.24. This trade represents a 5.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total transaction of $486,636.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,848,320.64. The trade was a 2.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 214,002 shares of company stock valued at $126,740,653. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $583.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $536.44.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

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.