Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 4.8% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 4.8% on Friday after Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on the stock from $624.00 to $676.00. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $597.47 and last traded at $599.41. 9,440,482 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 14,411,863 shares. The stock had previously closed at $572.21.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Roth Capital lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $696.45.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 237,017 shares of company stock worth $167,207,524. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,097,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $575.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $603.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

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.