Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Up 2.4% – Here’s What Happened

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shot up 2.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $629.79 and last traded at $623.77. 16,935,503 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 50% from the average session volume of 11,271,832 shares. The stock had previously closed at $608.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $579.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $533.06.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. This trade represents a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 142,160 shares of company stock worth $81,611,223 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Guardian Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Guardian Asset Advisors LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $454,000. LVW Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 7,786 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,926,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 659.4% in the 2nd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 108,826 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $54,872,000 after purchasing an additional 94,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Terra Nova Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 31.8% during the second quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 4,200 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.