Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 0.8% – What’s Next?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price traded down 0.8% on Friday . The company traded as low as $564.10 and last traded at $569.20. 7,200,228 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 12,875,964 shares. The stock had previously closed at $573.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $574.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $526.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total transaction of $470,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,135,440. This trade represents a 2.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $215,586.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,598 shares in the company, valued at $7,098,156. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 106,239 shares of company stock valued at $59,681,541 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after acquiring an additional 6,155 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after acquiring an additional 5,953 shares in the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.