Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 1.7%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) shares fell 1.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $512.00 and last traded at $512.65. 3,658,257 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 15,918,467 shares. The stock had previously closed at $521.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Benchmark reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $574.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock's 50-day moving average is $505.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $493.37. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.45, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at $6,315,852.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,975 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.36, for a total value of $4,117,971.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 531,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $274,643,622.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 387,173 shares of company stock worth $200,360,483 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Vantage Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,616,000 after buying an additional 3,888,308 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $815,000 after acquiring an additional 722 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 66.4% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,413,000 after acquiring an additional 1,594 shares during the period. Finally, Rollins Financial grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 30,657 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $10,851,000 after acquiring an additional 2,133 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.