Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 0.3% – Time to Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares rose 0.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $624.97 and last traded at $613.37. Approximately 7,062,925 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 12,208,810 shares. The stock had previously closed at $611.30.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $650.05.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $596.31 and a 200-day moving average of $555.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total transaction of $520,103.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,612,808.90. This trade represents a 2.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 496,174 shares of company stock valued at $301,408,499. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms by 35.1% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 27,272 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,089 shares in the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $352,000. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 31.5% in the second quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,430,000 after buying an additional 1,154 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 11,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,037,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waycross Partners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 8.5% in the second quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 64,066 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $32,303,000 after acquiring an additional 5,012 shares during 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.