Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 0.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price rose 0.1% during trading on Friday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $655.00 to $700.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $622.93 and last traded at $611.09. Approximately 6,491,521 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 10,961,600 shares. The stock had previously closed at $610.72.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on META. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $646.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,641,281.24. This represents a 2.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at $311,054,400. The trade was a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 410,536 shares of company stock valued at $249,024,275 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $592.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $552.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.