Traders Purchase Large Volume of Meta Platforms Call Options (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 602,902 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 31% compared to the typical daily volume of 461,452 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer downgraded Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $823.93.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $633.61 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $688.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $706.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.99, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.20. 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) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The company’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,570,306. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $1,590,690.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,784 shares in the company, valued at $5,962,956.64. This trade represents a 21.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,959 shares of company stock worth $26,759,811. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strategic Advocates LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 7,131 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,237,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 696.0% in the third quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $15,496,000 after purchasing an additional 18,450 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.2% during the third quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 161 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $574,000. Finally, Connors Investor Services Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 31,341 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,016,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.