Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 2.2% on Analyst Upgrade

by · The Cerbat Gem

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) shot up 2.2% during trading on Friday after Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on the stock from $600.00 to $675.00. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $580.56 and last traded at $580.07. 3,321,073 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 15,039,857 shares. The stock had previously closed at $567.78.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $647.00 to $652.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $621.63.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 250,817 shares of company stock valued at $132,547,715. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $550.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $510.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.32, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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