Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 2% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price traded up 2% on Friday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $753.00 to $780.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $705.30 and last traded at $700.84. 7,201,102 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 15,265,275 shares. The stock had previously closed at $687.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on META. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $706.76.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total value of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,776,261.56. The trade was a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $611.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $564.44. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.74% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.