Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 1.1% Higher - Still a Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 1.1% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $645.65 and last traded at $644.23. 3,031,342 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 14,462,779 shares. The stock had previously closed at $637.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.5%

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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The business's 50-day moving average is $574.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $609.16.

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $686.28, for a total transaction of $417,258.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 9,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,361,815.60. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 77,157 shares of company stock worth $49,411,000. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $2,990,544,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.