Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 0.1% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) were up 0.1% on Friday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $655.00 to $700.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $622.93 and last traded at $611.09. Approximately 6,491,521 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 10,961,600 shares. The stock had previously closed at $610.72.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $646.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 410,536 shares of company stock valued at $249,024,275. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after acquiring an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $235,872,000 after acquiring an additional 5,594 shares during the period. Finally, M&G PLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 721,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $412,606,000 after purchasing an additional 91,773 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $592.65 and a 200 day moving average of $552.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.78, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.