Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 0.1% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) traded up 0.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $726.30 and last traded at $726.42. 3,842,659 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 15,238,539 shares. The stock had previously closed at $725.38.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $770.00 price target (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.23, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $634.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $579.77.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current 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 of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,131 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $652,767.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,329.64. This represents a 47.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 812,198 shares of company stock valued at $515,102,208. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Argent Trust Co increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 53,148 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,119,000 after buying an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. First Foundation Advisors increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 21,934 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 3,718 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,177,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Blue Edge Capital LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Edge Capital LLC now owns 10,332 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,049,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 1,040,783 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $609,389,000 after purchasing an additional 5,883 shares in the last quarter. 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.