Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) were down 0.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $627.80 and last traded at $639.90. Approximately 3,547,807 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 14,503,823 shares. The stock had previously closed at $640.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $571.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $607.10.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total transaction of $447,530.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,270,899.46. This represents a 5.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total transaction of $677,920.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,787 shares in the company, valued at $26,341,737.09. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,852 shares of company stock worth $41,665,958 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Valley Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 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.