Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 0.2% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price rose 0.2% on Monday after Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on the stock from $570.00 to $620.00. Monness Crespi & Hardt currently has a buy rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $570.38 and last traded at $568.26. Approximately 1,944,920 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 15,543,364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $567.36.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on META. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $593.28.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $509.10, for a total value of $8,502,988.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 186,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,113,116.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 325,656 shares of company stock valued at $171,028,659. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second 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. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $516.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $499.63.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. Research analysts expect 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 was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.