Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Time to Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded up 1.1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $605.81 and last traded at $600.21. Approximately 11,280,125 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 16,192,149 shares. The stock had previously closed at $593.48.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta rolled out new AI features on Facebook for content creators, reinforcing the company’s push to use AI to improve engagement and monetize its social platforms. Insider Monkey: Meta Platforms (META) Rolls Out New AI Features On Facebook For Content Creators
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s Threads app reached 500 million monthly active users, and new community and feed-control features suggest continued growth across the company’s social ecosystem. Yahoo Finance: Meta Reaches 500 Million Threads Users As New Community Features Roll Out
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent reports remain constructive on Meta’s AI strategy, arguing that AI-driven ad tools and user engagement could support further upside despite heavy spending. Insider Monkey: BofA Reiterates Buy Rating on Meta Platforms
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is also drawing attention for its upcoming quarterly dividend, which supports the stock’s shareholder-return story but is not likely the main catalyst for the move. Finbold: Meta to pay dividends next week
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that Meta is lobbying Congress for legal immunity from child-harm lawsuits, highlighting the growing legal overhang around Instagram and other social products. Reuters: Meta lobbies Congress for protection from child-harm lawsuits
• Negative Sentiment: Investor sentiment was also pressured by reports that a Meta executive leading the “AI for work” transformation is leaving, raising questions about execution during the company’s AI overhaul. Reuters: Meta head of product for ‘AI for work’ transformation is leaving company
• Negative Sentiment: Another concern is the reported security breach in Meta’s AI-powered support chatbot, which was used to compromise Instagram accounts and could weigh on trust in the company’s AI rollout. Yahoo Finance: Meta Faces AI Support Breach As Key Internal AI Executive Exits

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on META. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,015.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wedbush raised shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. UBS Group cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $760.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $621.93 and its 200 day moving average is $635.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total transaction of $317,162.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,481,290.47. This trade represents a 11.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $84,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,846 shares in the company, valued at $7,707,600. This trade represents a 1.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,568 shares of company stock worth $25,057,365. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 488.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,608,445,000 after buying an additional 4,537,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $59,963,463,000 after buying an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.