Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 2.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) traded up 2.5% on Tuesday after Erste Group Bank upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The company traded as high as $625.37 and last traded at $615.58. 18,177,595 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 9% from the average daily volume of 16,615,734 shares. The stock had previously closed at $600.29.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Susquehanna raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “positive” rating to a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings cut Meta Platforms from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $767.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 39,513 shares of company stock valued at $24,419,874 over the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is rolling out Muse Image, its first image-generation model from Meta Superintelligence Labs, signaling continued progress in AI and a push to attract creators, advertisers, and subscribers. Meta expands generative AI tools with Muse Image rollout
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank upgraded Meta from hold to buy, and Truist reaffirmed a bullish view with an $840 price target, reinforcing Wall Street confidence in the stock’s valuation and growth prospects. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Raised to “Buy” at Erste Group Bank
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is also drawing positive attention for its broader AI and infrastructure strategy, including potential monetization of excess compute capacity, which some investors view as a possible new revenue stream. Meta Platforms Is Entering the Neocloud Business. Here’s Why CoreWeave Investors Should Not Worry.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several market commentary pieces highlighted Meta as a “final trade” or one of the more interesting mega-cap AI names, but these articles are largely sentiment-driven rather than new fundamental catalysts. Apple, Meta, Alphabet And A Financial Stock On CNBC’s ‘Final Trades’
• Negative Sentiment: Meta disclosed that four U.S. states are seeking up to $1.4 trillion in penalties in an upcoming youth-safety trial, a major legal risk that could weigh on sentiment given the size of the potential liability. Meta says US states are seeking $1.4 trillion in penalties in August youth safety trial
• Negative Sentiment: Separate reports that India is pressing Meta over child-abuse-related ads on Instagram add another regulatory concern, while CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s reported comments that AI development “hasn’t really accelerated” as expected may raise questions about returns on heavy AI spending.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GK Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 661.1% in the 2nd quarter. GK Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,950 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,225,000 after purchasing an additional 3,431 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 55,991 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,539,000 after buying an additional 3,939 shares during the last quarter. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 29.7% in the second quarter. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc now owns 26,165 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $14,739,000 after buying an additional 5,984 shares in the last quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.2% in the second quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 698 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,437,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $601.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $627.66. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.