Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1.3% – Time to Sell?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares fell 1.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $602.79 and last traded at $609.66. 3,399,304 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 10,762,179 shares. The stock had previously closed at $617.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $645.80.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.2 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $591.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $551.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total transaction of $533,922.85. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,641,281.24. This trade represents a 2.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total value of $21,695,565.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 361,640 shares of company stock worth $219,037,690 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% during the third quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.