Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 0.6% – Here’s Why

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) traded up 0.6% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $557.88 and last traded at $557.57. 4,740,951 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 15,014,267 shares. The stock had previously closed at $554.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s fifty day moving average is $568.11 and its 200 day moving average is $521.17. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total transaction of $511,497.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total value of $234,410.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,294 shares in the company, valued at $5,842,668.52. The trade was a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 141,498 shares of company stock worth $75,732,154 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $595,152,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after acquiring an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.