Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 1.8% Higher - Here's Why

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 1.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $660.76 and last traded at $659.07. 3,638,889 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 14,441,963 shares. The stock had previously closed at $647.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $702.48.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $583.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $613.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.93, for a total transaction of $333,428.81. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,398,350.53. The trade was a 4.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,652 shares of company stock worth $34,815,208 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Suvretta Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Skye Global Management LP increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the fourth quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $44,616,000 after acquiring an additional 43,200 shares during the period. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 255.9% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,709,694 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,001,044,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,350 shares in the last quarter. 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.