Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) were down 5.8% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $587.44 and last traded at $589.58. Approximately 6,331,766 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 13,616,370 shares. The stock had previously closed at $625.66.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. Benchmark upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $820.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $719.26.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.3 %
The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $657.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $601.96. 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 market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.
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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.78%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms
In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.66, for a total transaction of $567,127.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,760,768.50. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 725,081 shares of company stock worth $472,702,625. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $459,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $866,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Company Profile
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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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