Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 0.2% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares were up 0.2% on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $530.00 to $610.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $504.77 and last traded at $501.29. Approximately 3,042,017 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 17,052,457 shares. The stock had previously closed at $500.23.

META has been the topic of several other reports. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.28.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.00, for a total transaction of $217,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,585,110. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,459,469 shares of company stock valued at $691,726,161. 14.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $492.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $394.61.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.00 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

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.