Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Up 0.1% – Time to Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares shot up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $588.80 and last traded at $583.11. 4,241,271 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 15,471,983 shares. The stock had previously closed at $582.77.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Securities boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $598.08.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $524.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $501.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,308,262.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 300,228 shares of company stock valued at $158,005,260. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $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 second quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.