Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 0.1% - Still a Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) shares traded up 0.1% on Monday . The company traded as high as $558.49 and last traded at $547.80. 5,934,170 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 14,342,141 shares. The stock had previously closed at $547.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $681.95.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $578.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $603.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $702.24, for a total transaction of $635,527.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28,390 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,936,593.60. The trade was a 3.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 249,071 shares of company stock worth $175,741,082. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the first quarter. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,053 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,099,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Genus Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 190.2% in the 1st quarter. Genus Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,566 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $6,090,000 after acquiring an additional 22,279 shares in the last quarter. Weil Company Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 9,484 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,466,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $1,477,000. Finally, Burford Brothers Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.7% in the first quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. now owns 5,821 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,355,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.