Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Up 0.6% Following Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price was up 0.6% on Tuesday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $600.00 to $675.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $579.66 and last traded at $578.69. Approximately 2,483,725 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 15,108,576 shares. The stock had previously closed at $575.16.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Pivotal Research started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $780.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $619.20.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,456,828. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,285,234.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,456,828. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 250,324 shares of company stock valued at $132,218,368 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake 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 during the period. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.2 %

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 company has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $547.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $509.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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