Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 0.2% Higher – What’s Next?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares shot up 0.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $649.27 and last traded at $641.28. 3,969,160 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 13,616,628 shares. The stock had previously closed at $640.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50 day moving average is $656.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $599.31.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total value of $22,746,973.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $623.50, for a total transaction of $257,505.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 18,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,692,495.50. This trade represents a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 775,295 shares of company stock valued at $504,237,715 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.4% during the third quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC now owns 9,968 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,706,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the third quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,051 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,319,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 440,021 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $248,036,000 after purchasing an additional 43,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,834 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,057,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.