Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Gap Up - What's Next?

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $533.15, but opened at $546.80. Meta Platforms shares last traded at $543.19, with a volume of 3,490,203 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $615.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $679.02.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.6 %

The company has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $587.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $604.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total transaction of $24,195,307.97. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.59, for a total value of $259,194.67. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,862 shares in the company, valued at $9,954,832.58. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 308,068 shares of company stock valued at $214,968,924. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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.