Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 1.3% Higher – Time to Buy?

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shot up 1.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $607.99 and last traded at $607.75. 4,726,056 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 14,809,423 shares. The stock had previously closed at $599.85.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $638.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $587.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $545.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total value of $523,587.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,308,262.10. This trade represents a 2.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,131 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $652,767.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,329.64. This represents a 47.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 324,805 shares of company stock worth $196,770,261. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.