Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Up 1.2% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) were up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $706.83 and last traded at $706.15. Approximately 5,431,577 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 15,605,314 shares. The stock had previously closed at $697.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Citigroup upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $710.83.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.2 %

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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $616.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $568.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.94 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $696.39, for a total transaction of $9,035,660.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 210,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $146,918,094.69. This represents a 5.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 673,878 shares of company stock worth $416,269,904 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 982 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Prasad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $967,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $208,000. Portland Financial Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Quartz Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Quartz Partners LLC now owns 7,367 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,314,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is 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.