Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Up 1.6% Following Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $735.00 to $795.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $736.65 and last traded at $732.48. Approximately 4,647,678 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 15,867,658 shares. The stock had previously closed at $720.67.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $808.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, June 27th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $729.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.51, for a total transaction of $370,952.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 7,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,263,653.36. The trade was a 6.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 153,792 shares of company stock valued at $105,466,325. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $674.77 and a 200 day moving average of $634.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.