Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 1.5% - Still a Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) shares shot up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $689.88 and last traded at $692.55. 3,190,238 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 14,468,557 shares. The stock had previously closed at $682.35.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Needham & Company LLC reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $676.00 to $807.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $710.00.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.1%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $618.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $623.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total value of $577,513.05. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 31,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,552,673.10. This trade represents a 2.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,423 shares of company stock worth $73,580,663 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $2,990,544,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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.

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