Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 2.3% – What’s Next?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded down 2.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $562.15 and last traded at $563.80. 3,865,342 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 15,002,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $577.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on META shares. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $568.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $520.60.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.38, for a total transaction of $478,183.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,416,298.16. This trade represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 158,200 shares of company stock valued at $84,533,106. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc now owns 33,102 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,949,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Savoie Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $286,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,783 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,166,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenwood Gearhart Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 27,802 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $15,915,000 after buying an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.