Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 1.2% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) traded up 1.2% during trading on Monday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $580.00 to $645.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $573.98 and last traded at $568.12. 4,004,732 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 15,617,740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $561.35.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on META. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $578.92.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $231,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,772 shares in the company, valued at $7,152,320. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.96, for a total value of $8,600,861.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 213,007 shares in the company, valued at $109,690,084.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $231,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 12,772 shares in the company, valued at $7,152,320. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 349,472 shares of company stock worth $182,544,600. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.7% during the second quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 371 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the first quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buckingham Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the second quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $508.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $497.64. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.25, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

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.