Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 2.4% – Should You Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares shot up 2.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $624.84 and last traded at $621.03. Approximately 13,494,447 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 25% from the average session volume of 18,054,908 shares. The stock had previously closed at $606.73.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta made its Muse Voice AI available to U.S. users, including voice and video conversations with its consumer AI agent. Wider access could help the company build engagement with its AI products. Meta says US users can now video chat with their Muse AI avatar
• Positive Sentiment: Meta acquired Conductor, a startup that uses multiple AI agents to help build software projects, adding technology and talent to its AI development efforts. Meta acquires AI coding startup Conductor
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta completed a $15 billion senior-notes offering. Strong investor demand supports its ability to raise funds, but the borrowing adds to scrutiny of the cost of financing its AI expansion. Meta Platforms Completes $15 Billion Senior Notes Offering
• Negative Sentiment: Meta, Google and TikTok sued California’s attorney general to block a law restricting features considered addictive for users under 16. The legal challenge highlights continuing regulatory and litigation exposure around youth safety. Meta, Google, and TikTok sue California AG over teen social media law
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s president warned that political and community opposition over data-center power and water use could make new facilities harder to build. That could complicate the infrastructure buildout needed to support AI growth. Meta warns election backlash against data centers could make AI expansion harder
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage of Meta’s debut euro bond sale pointed to borrowing costs above Alphabet’s, adding to investor concern about the expense of funding the company’s large AI spending plans. Meta Paid 1.4 Times What Alphabet Did to Borrow in Euros
• Negative Sentiment: Delhi Police filed a case concerning child sexual abuse material on Meta’s platforms after intervention by India’s child-rights authorities, creating potential reputational and legal risk. Child Abuse Material On Meta Platforms Flagged, Delhi Police Files FIR After NHRC Intervention

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $820.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $885.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Mizuho increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $945.00 price target (down from $995.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $920.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $833.12.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $674.18 and its 200-day moving average is $632.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.86. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 31.15% and a return on equity of 30.73%. The company had revenue of $64.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.25 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.01 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were paid a $0.5250 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.16%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher Cox sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total value of $28,510,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 184,516 shares in the company, valued at $131,515,624.16. This represents a 17.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total value of $21,359,386.56. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 151,090 shares of company stock valued at $103,150,807. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 723.1% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 8,801,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,957,946,000 after purchasing an additional 7,732,446 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,948,486,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $51,841,811,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510,123 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,036,491,000 after acquiring an additional 2,673,494 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Meta Platforms by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,784,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815,017 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company’s principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.