Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Up 0.4% – Time to Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price rose 0.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $725.01 and last traded at $715.08. Approximately 6,350,447 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 15,592,344 shares. The stock had previously closed at $711.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $710.83.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $624.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $572.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $702.24, for a total value of $635,527.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 28,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,936,593.60. This trade represents a 3.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,131 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $652,767.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $709,329.64. The trade was a 47.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 701,146 shares of company stock valued at $435,387,895. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $261,680,000 after acquiring an additional 112,047 shares during the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 240,263 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $137,536,000 after purchasing an additional 15,212 shares in the last quarter. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC now owns 16,366 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,369,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.6% in the third quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 6,448 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,691,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.