Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 0.1% – Here’s Why

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was down 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $712.60 and last traded at $719.17. Approximately 4,401,719 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 15,362,032 shares. The stock had previously closed at $719.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $631.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $578.74.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,131 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $652,767.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $709,329.64. This trade represents a 47.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 756,735 shares of company stock worth $475,285,232 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.