Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 0.1% Higher - Here's What Happened

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) shares were up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $555.30 and last traded at $550.08. Approximately 3,580,667 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 14,335,775 shares. The stock had previously closed at $549.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Benchmark dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $575.29 and a 200 day moving average of $603.62.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 237,017 shares of company stock worth $167,207,524 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,928,185,000 after purchasing an additional 204,412 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,101,602,000 after buying an additional 186,728 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,684 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,157,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 34,862 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,412,000 after purchasing an additional 3,960 shares during the period. Finally, NRI Wealth Management LC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $594,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.