Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 2.4% Higher

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) rose 2.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $498.76 and last traded at $493.22. Approximately 4,797,858 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 16,989,535 shares. The stock had previously closed at $481.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.28.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $495.93 and a 200-day moving average of $403.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total transaction of $291,675.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares in the company, valued at $18,853,183.67. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock worth $657,034,449. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Signify Wealth bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $79,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by 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.