Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 0.2% – Here’s What Happened

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shot up 0.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $649.27 and last traded at $641.28. 3,969,160 shares traded 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

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $654.92 and its 200-day moving average is $598.70. The company has a market capitalization of $1.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $623.50, for a total value of $257,505.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 18,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,692,495.50. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total value of $643,414.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,607,740.16. This trade represents a 3.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 796,712 shares of company stock valued at $517,503,564 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.