Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) was down 1.2% during trading on Monday after KeyCorp lowered their price target on the stock from $575.00 to $555.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as low as $473.40 and last traded at $475.44. Approximately 6,905,431 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 17,017,107 shares. The stock had previously closed at $481.07.
A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $520.28.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total transaction of $291,675.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,813 shares in the company, valued at $18,853,183.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total transaction of $291,675.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,813 shares in the company, valued at $18,853,183.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total value of $7,722,037.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,392,501 shares of company stock worth $666,506,318 over the last 90 days. 14.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,285,855,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,647 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,752,900,000 after purchasing an additional 4,908,251 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440,229 shares during the period. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
The firm has a market cap of $1.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $494.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $401.23.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.
