Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 1%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price traded up 1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $510.00 and last traded at $508.08. 3,134,960 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 17,948,943 shares. The stock had previously closed at $503.02.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on META shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $440.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $496.35.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $464.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $375.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.00 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 13.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,504,435 shares of company stock valued at $703,629,367. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Madison Wealth Partners Inc raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 670 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 4,895 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,590 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, WoodTrust Financial Corp increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.