Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 4.3% - Should You Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 4.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $609.61 and last traded at $609.24. Approximately 7,383,473 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 13,655,621 shares. The stock had previously closed at $584.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on META shares. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $820.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $718.31.

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Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $655.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $605.74.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.47, for a total transaction of $545,235.35. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,820 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,375,535.40. This represents a 2.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 622,844 shares of company stock worth $409,212,161 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in 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 last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. 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.