Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 1.5% – Time to Buy?

by · The Cerbat Gem

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) shares rose 1.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $662.54 and last traded at $657.15. Approximately 14,013,381 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 10% from the average daily volume of 15,521,786 shares. The stock had previously closed at $647.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Arete Research set a $718.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $819.46.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $664.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $707.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.03, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $669.63, for a total transaction of $346,198.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 13,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,208,082.13. This trade represents a 3.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $664.16, for a total value of $344,699.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,067,594.40. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 40,458 shares of company stock valued at $25,436,200. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

(Get Free Report)

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.

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