Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 1.1% Higher – Time to Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded up 1.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $607.15 and last traded at $606.24. 2,056,371 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 14,797,506 shares. The stock had previously closed at $599.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on META. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $638.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $585.75 and a 200-day moving average of $543.51. The company has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 287,979 shares of company stock worth $174,503,958 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,126,190 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $595,152,000. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after buying an additional 890,434 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after buying an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is 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.