Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 0.2% – Should You Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares shot up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $624.97 and last traded at $612.77. 17,239,131 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 59% from the average session volume of 10,812,479 shares. The stock had previously closed at $611.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $596.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $557.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.54, for a total transaction of $547,108.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,105 shares in the company, valued at $18,804,216.70. This represents a 2.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 496,174 shares of company stock valued at $301,408,499. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fiera Capital Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 35.1% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 27,272 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,089 shares during the last quarter. Kendall Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the second quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 1,753 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Intrepid Financial Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $202,000. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,669 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,926,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Riverview Capital Advisers LLC now owns 843 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.