Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 3.4% – What’s Next?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shot up 3.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $680.20 and last traded at $679.97. 6,028,332 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 15,607,144 shares. The stock had previously closed at $657.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Benchmark upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.21, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $648.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $594.06.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.49, for a total transaction of $238,503.37. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,068,173.34. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $538,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,738,325. This represents a 2.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 812,422 shares of company stock worth $525,534,818. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by 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.