Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 1.7% – Here’s What Happened

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) rose 1.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $571.80 and last traded at $570.06. Approximately 2,771,741 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 15,089,037 shares. The stock had previously closed at $560.68.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on META. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $556.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $513.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 6,534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total transaction of $3,299,931.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 116,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,639,184.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total value of $524,990.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 31,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,262,708.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 6,534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total transaction of $3,299,931.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 116,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,639,184.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 250,040 shares of company stock valued at $132,361,588. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 73,750 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $42,218,000 after purchasing an additional 8,171 shares during the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.3% during the 3rd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 7,245 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,148,000 after buying an additional 2,939 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 31,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $17,909,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $1,150,000. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,386 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,373,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.