Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Reaches New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $744.60 and last traded at $742.95, with a volume of 1800869 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $733.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.52.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.6%

The firm has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.26. The stock's 50 day moving average is $638.51 and its 200 day moving average is $626.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 475 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $628.25, for a total transaction of $298,418.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,453,384. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total value of $525,577.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,268,742.26. This trade represents a 2.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 124,223 shares of company stock worth $83,526,550. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Valley Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABLE Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in 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.

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