Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Up 1.9% - Should You Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 1.9% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $494.54 and last traded at $494.01. 4,034,798 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 14,754,425 shares. The stock had previously closed at $484.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $624.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $676.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.6 %

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 stock has a market cap of $1.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company's 50 day moving average price is $590.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $604.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,862 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,954,832.58. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 308,068 shares of company stock worth $214,968,924. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.