Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 2.6% - Should You Sell?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) shares traded down 2.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $529.50 and last traded at $539.99. 6,461,827 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 14,309,857 shares. The stock had previously closed at $554.44.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $628.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wedbush reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $681.95.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The business's 50-day moving average price is $581.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $604.05. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,707.52. This represents a 8.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 248,463 shares of company stock worth $175,403,314 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 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.

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