Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 1.2% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Meta Platforms' stock rose by 1.2% to $791.68, with a significant decline of 68% in trading volume compared to its average daily volume.
• Analysts are optimistic about Meta's future, with numerous target price upgrades, including UBS's increase from $812 to $897 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Meta's recent earnings report showed a notable 21.6% increase in revenue year-over-year, surpassing estimates with $7.14 earnings per share against an expected $5.75.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) shares rose 1.2% on Friday . The company traded as high as $796.25 and last traded at $791.68. Approximately 4,811,537 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 15,272,064 shares. The stock had previously closed at $782.13.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $980.00 price target (up from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $722.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $654.81. The stock has a market cap of $1.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% 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 year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 515 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $776.38, for a total value of $399,835.70. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,035 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,436,673.30. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $767.80, for a total value of $11,517,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 222,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,608,999. This represents a 6.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 269,243 shares of company stock worth $200,605,051 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $142,149,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,568 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,119,937,000 after acquiring an additional 59,766,000 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,575,209 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $37,902,948,000 after purchasing an additional 682,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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