Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Up 0.6% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:METAGet Free Report) were up 0.6% during trading on Tuesday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $600.00 to $675.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $579.66 and last traded at $578.69. Approximately 2,483,725 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 15,108,576 shares. The stock had previously closed at $575.16.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on META. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $619.20.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total value of $239,808.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,456,828. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,120 shares in the company, valued at $6,456,828. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 250,324 shares of company stock valued at $132,218,368 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the 2nd 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. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,962,767,000 after buying an additional 748,076 shares during the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 59.0% in the 1st quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $802,000 after buying an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lincoln National Corp grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 34,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,894,000 after buying an additional 2,504 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $547.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $509.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:METAGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

About Meta Platforms

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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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