Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 0.5% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price rose 0.5% during trading on Friday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $600.00 to $675.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $583.97 and last traded at $579.66. Approximately 2,596,915 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 15,181,635 shares. The stock had previously closed at $576.93.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $617.37.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 250,816 shares of company stock valued at $132,421,828. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 38.0% in the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 31,822 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $15,452,000 after buying an additional 8,762 shares in the last quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 32,320 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,706,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. Grandview Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the first quarter. Grandview Asset Management LLC now owns 8,549 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,151,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the first quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 44,137 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $21,432,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $545.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $508.09. The firm has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

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.