Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 2.5% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares shot up 2.5% during trading on Wednesday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $650.00 to $670.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $638.40 and last traded at $634.76. Approximately 4,039,058 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 14,769,589 shares. The stock had previously closed at $619.32.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on META. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $635.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,946 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $621.84, for a total value of $14,268,740.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 164,201 shares of company stock valued at $95,420,559. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.6% during the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 6,428 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,241,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 1,321 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $666,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.6% in the second quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 2,045 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 137,014 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $69,085,000 after purchasing an additional 8,012 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.4 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $581.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $535.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

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.