Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 1.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shot up 1.2% on Monday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $555.00 to $636.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $600.10 and last traded at $596.79. 2,238,271 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 15,295,687 shares. The stock had previously closed at $589.95.

META has been the subject of several other research reports. JMP Securities raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. TD Securities raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $613.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.83, for a total value of $241,534.79. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,744,844.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.83, for a total value of $241,534.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,744,844.39. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total value of $533,850.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,172,468.33. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 250,239 shares of company stock valued at $132,033,148 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew 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 worth $41,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $542.26 and a 200 day moving average of $507.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.67, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.