Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 6.1% Following Earnings Beat

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) traded up 6.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $592.95 and last traded at $582.38. 15,892,662 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 10% from the average session volume of 14,393,269 shares. The stock had previously closed at $549.00.

The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on META. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $696.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,707.52. The trade was a 8.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $706.72, for a total value of $9,169,692.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,588,349.12. This represents a 7.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 237,017 shares of company stock worth $167,207,524. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Valley Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 4.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $575.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $603.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

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.