Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 0.2% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $530.00 to $610.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $504.77 and last traded at $501.29. 3,042,017 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 17,052,457 shares. The stock had previously closed at $500.23.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on META. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted 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. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $465.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock 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 issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.28.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.00, for a total value of $217,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,286 shares in the company, valued at $13,585,110. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.99, for a total value of $7,183,368.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.00, for a total value of $217,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,585,110. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,459,469 shares of company stock worth $691,726,161. 14.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $492.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $394.61.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.00 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders 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 was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

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.