Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 2.7% – Time to Sell?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded down 2.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $549.05 and last traded at $550.36. 3,675,645 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 14,963,694 shares. The stock had previously closed at $565.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on META shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $571.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $523.03.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 14,746 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.53, for a total transaction of $8,162,353.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 185,958 shares of company stock worth $101,181,747. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,886,000 after buying an additional 16,138 shares during the period. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 541.8% in the 1st quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224 shares during the last quarter. Natixis grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 126.0% during the first quarter. Natixis now owns 455,820 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $221,337,000 after purchasing an additional 254,166 shares during the period. Leelyn Smith LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $270,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $3,143,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.