Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 1.9% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $546.80 and last traded at $543.16. Approximately 6,578,432 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 14,680,491 shares. The stock had previously closed at $533.15.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have issued reports on META. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $628.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $679.02.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
The company has a market capitalization 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $587.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $604.68.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.
Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms
In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total transaction of $24,195,307.97. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total value of $453,012.27. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,498 shares in the company, valued at $13,525,441.26. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 308,068 shares of company stock valued at $214,968,924. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after buying an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Meta Platforms
(
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.
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