Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 0.4% Higher

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded up 0.4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $542.10 and last traded at $535.15. 4,417,019 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 15,635,368 shares. The stock had previously closed at $533.28.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $660.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3 %

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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $505.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $495.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at $39,285,234.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total transaction of $449,775.95. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,258,362.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,285,234.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 357,574 shares of company stock valued at $185,587,773 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st 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 bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd 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 period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the 1st 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, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.