Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Up 0.2% – Time to Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was up 0.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $649.27 and last traded at $641.28. Approximately 3,969,160 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 13,616,628 shares. The stock had previously closed at $640.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $656.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $599.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.16, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.00, for a total transaction of $593,124.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,860,580. The trade was a 2.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 775,295 shares of company stock worth $504,237,715 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.