Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 1% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) traded up 1% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $572.59 and last traded at $564.72. Approximately 3,599,647 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 14,921,218 shares. The stock had previously closed at $559.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.8 %

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 50 day simple moving average of $574.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $526.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 110,656 shares of company stock valued at $61,933,867. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lindenwold Advisors INC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during 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.