Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 1.2% Higher

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 1.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $592.55 and last traded at $579.23. 23,274,227 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 45% from the average session volume of 16,055,681 shares. The stock had previously closed at $572.13.Get Meta Platforms alerts:Key Headlines Impacting Meta PlatformsHere are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:Analyst Ratings ChangesMETA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $860.00 target price (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $845.54.Get Our Latest Analysis on METAMeta Platforms Trading Up 1.2%The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $641.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $663.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.65, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.02 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year. Meta Platforms Announces DividendThe company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.94%. Insider ActivityIn related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $605.38, for a total transaction of $560,581.88. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 13,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,072,742.30. The trade was a 6.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 161,448 shares of company stock worth $103,333,788 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock. Institutional Trading of Meta PlatformsInstitutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $26,000. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock. Meta Platforms Company Profile (Get Free Report)Meta Platforms, Inc NASDAQ: META, formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses. Meta's core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.Recommended StoriesThis instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.Before you consider Meta Platforms, you'll want to hear this.MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Meta Platforms wasn't on the list.While Meta Platforms currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.Wondering where to start (or end) with AI stocks? These 10 simple stocks can help investors build long-term wealth as artificial intelligence continues to grow into the future.Get This Free Report Like this article? Share it with a colleague. Link copied to clipboard.

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