Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 1.5%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) traded down 1.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $432.51 and last traded at $436.54. 6,613,584 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 18,238,789 shares. The stock had previously closed at $443.29.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $492.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $406.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total transaction of $216,354.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,913,722.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total transaction of $216,354.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,913,722.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 552 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.00, for a total transaction of $256,128.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,168 shares in the company, valued at $15,853,952. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,257,291 shares of company stock valued at $612,916,087 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by 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.