Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Up 0.3%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded up 0.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $539.77 and last traded at $537.71. 2,009,729 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 15,598,521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $536.32.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1 %

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 business’s 50-day moving average is $505.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $496.05. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 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 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total transaction of $221,747.96. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,744,534.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total value of $221,747.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 14,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,744,534.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 357,987 shares of company stock valued at $185,802,769. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,719 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,569,705 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,157,093,000 after buying an additional 344,384 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.