Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 0.5% – Time to Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price shot up 0.5% on Monday . The company traded as high as $721.20 and last traded at $717.78. 4,547,497 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 15,566,686 shares. The stock had previously closed at $714.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.8 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $631.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $578.74.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $2,918,698.12. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 8,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,943,375.40. This trade represents a 37.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,131 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $652,767.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $709,329.64. This represents a 47.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 756,735 shares of company stock valued at $475,285,232. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.