Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 3.4% – Still a Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price rose 3.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $680.20 and last traded at $679.97. 6,028,332 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 15,607,144 shares. The stock had previously closed at $657.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho boosted 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. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $648.73 and a 200 day moving average of $594.06.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. This trade represents a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 812,422 shares of company stock worth $525,534,818 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Valley Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,743,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.