Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 2.7% Following Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price was up 2.7% on Monday after Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on the stock from $565.00 to $575.00. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $492.06 and last traded at $489.62. Approximately 3,931,687 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 16,176,328 shares. The stock had previously closed at $476.79.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on META. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total transaction of $216,354.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,913,722.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $268,606.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,819,124.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total transaction of $216,354.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,913,722.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 310,933 shares of company stock worth $154,451,206. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $494.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $474.03. The company has a market capitalization of $1.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.21 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

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.