Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 2.3% Higher – Should You Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares were up 2.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $670.56 and last traded at $664.45. Approximately 19,006,375 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 22% from the average daily volume of 15,537,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $649.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $819.46.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $662.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $707.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. This represents a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $664.16, for a total transaction of $344,699.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,067,594.40. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 41,555 shares of company stock worth $26,144,862 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% 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 company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.