Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 2.4% Higher

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) traded up 2.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $498.76 and last traded at $493.22. 4,797,858 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 16,989,535 shares. The stock had previously closed at $481.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $520.28.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $495.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $403.14.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.00 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at $14,026,880. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total transaction of $228,664.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,026,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock worth $657,034,449 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.