Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 1.9% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) rose 1.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $675.48 and last traded at $672.55. Approximately 7,838,056 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 13,732,800 shares. The stock had previously closed at $659.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $608.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $563.58.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. This represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 662,217 shares of company stock valued at $407,980,152. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.