Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 0.7%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 0.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $497.15 and last traded at $496.20. Approximately 2,629,545 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 16,837,391 shares. The stock had previously closed at $492.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $510.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $480.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $437.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.28 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.75, for a total transaction of $288,843.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,738 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,114,387.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.67, for a total transaction of $194,328.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 14,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,058,069.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.75, for a total transaction of $288,843.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 40,738 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,114,387.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 573,397 shares of company stock worth $282,152,645. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $11,285,855,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after buying an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,752,900,000 after buying an additional 4,908,251 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $10,695,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,616,000 after buying an additional 3,888,308 shares during the last quarter. 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.