Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) shot up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $558.49 and last traded at $547.80. 5,934,170 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 14,342,141 shares. The stock had previously closed at $547.27.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $615.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $681.95.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2 %
The business's 50-day simple moving average is $587.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $604.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.
Insider Activity
In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 285,289 shares of company stock worth $200,201,352 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms
Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $946,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after buying an additional 204,412 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 3,219 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the period. Aldebaran Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 2,853 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,048 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $9,704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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