Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 1.9% – Here’s What Happened

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares were up 1.9% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $675.48 and last traded at $672.55. Approximately 7,838,056 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 13,732,800 shares. The stock had previously closed at $659.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on META. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 price target (up previously from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $654.20.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.2 %

The company has a market cap of $1.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.76, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $604.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $561.55.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total transaction of $23,160,423.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $559,290.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,200 shares in the company, valued at $18,663,600. This trade represents a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 603,032 shares of company stock worth $368,666,614. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.