Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 1.5%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price was down 1.5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $432.51 and last traded at $436.54. Approximately 6,613,584 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 18,238,789 shares. The stock had previously closed at $443.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $494.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $405.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.89, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at $14,026,880. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at $14,026,880. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total transaction of $253,697.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,924,027.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,277,048 shares of company stock worth $620,679,759 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Global Investments lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.2% in the first quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 30,525 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $14,822,000 after acquiring an additional 2,045 shares during the period. Brio Consultants LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $438,000. Fiduciary Planning LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 58.5% in the first quarter. Fiduciary Planning LLC now owns 1,449 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the period. Union Savings Bank lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 67.1% in the first quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 1,704 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. Finally, RAM Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the first quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,768 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $859,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.