Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 2.3% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price traded up 2.3% during trading on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $675.00 to $715.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $619.14 and last traded at $618.79. 3,973,708 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 9,026,861 shares. The stock had previously closed at $604.63.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a 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 given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $643.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,054,400. The trade was a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 326,624 shares of company stock valued at $197,875,975 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% during the third quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $589.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $549.56. The company has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend 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.