Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $650.00 to $750.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $717.00 and last traded at $713.06. 3,467,205 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 14,294,245 shares. The stock had previously closed at $704.28.
A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on META. Pivotal Research dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $828.00 price objective (up from $807.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $738.37.
Read Our Latest Report on META
Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms
In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total value of $375,278.52. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,225,251.04. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.50, for a total transaction of $370,947.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,892,632.50. The trade was a 7.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 153,358 shares of company stock valued at $105,521,582. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.
Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $129,666,000 after purchasing an additional 7,587 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,624,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.2%
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. The business's 50-day moving average is $686.09 and its 200 day moving average is $638.61.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.
About Meta Platforms
(
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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