Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 2.3% – What’s Next?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) traded up 2.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $670.56 and last traded at $664.45. 19,006,375 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 22% from the average session volume of 15,537,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $649.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $819.46.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.3%

The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $662.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $707.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total value of $333,982.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 13,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,549,164. This trade represents a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $664.16, for a total value of $344,699.04. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,067,594.40. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 41,555 shares of company stock worth $26,144,862 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Infusive Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.7% during the first quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,620 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,614,000 after buying an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the second quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,011,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 10.4% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 55,431 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $43,790,000 after purchasing an additional 5,224 shares during the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 27.8% during the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 176,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $130,467,000 after purchasing an additional 38,432 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.0% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 210,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $155,387,000 after purchasing an additional 20,912 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.