Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1.4%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price fell 1.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $517.40 and last traded at $517.49. 1,858,339 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 15,655,307 shares. The stock had previously closed at $524.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s fifty day moving average is $505.13 and its 200 day moving average is $495.51.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total value of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,197,043.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.00, for a total value of $206,824.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,619 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,738. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total value of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,197,043.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 357,574 shares of company stock worth $185,587,773. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the second quarter. American Trust now owns 3,267 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,647,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 46.4% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,023,000 after acquiring an additional 3,158 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $213,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $105,117,000. Finally, Creekside Partners acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $327,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.