Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) traded down 0% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $511.07 and last traded at $511.89. 2,832,755 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 17,102,031 shares. The stock had previously closed at $511.90.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $465.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $505.75.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on META
Meta Platforms Price Performance
The company has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company's 50 day moving average price is $491.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $393.22.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.00 EPS. The business's revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.42%.
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms
In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.99, for a total transaction of $7,183,368.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,460,035 shares of company stock worth $691,937,607 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 14.03% of the company's stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.5% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $499,020,000 after buying an additional 249,926 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 284.0% during the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $746,000 after buying an additional 2,482 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.9% during the first quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Company Profile
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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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