Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Sets New 1-Year High After Earnings Beat

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $694.66 and last traded at $689.92, with a volume of 1195511 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $676.49.

The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 price target (up from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $673.43.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 661,312 shares of company stock worth $407,377,422 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $608.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $563.58.

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.