Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) shares rose 1.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $639.38 and last traded at $637.15. Approximately 2,779,541 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 14,449,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $627.06.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Roth Capital lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $701.05.
View Our Latest Analysis on META
Meta Platforms Price Performance
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $578.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $610.43. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.
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 analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.00, for a total value of $593,124.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,945 shares in the company, valued at $21,860,580. This trade represents a 2.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,664 shares of company stock valued at $35,484,670 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.
Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
About Meta Platforms
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Get Free Report)
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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