Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 3.1% – Here’s Why

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded up 3.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $686.08 and last traded at $681.31. 18,424,736 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 9% from the average session volume of 16,905,184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $661.04.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is reportedly weighing a cloud push and plans to hire Dave Brown, a top Amazon Web Services executive, which suggests it wants to strengthen its enterprise and AI infrastructure strategy. Meta Plans to Hire Top Amazon Computing Executive as it Weighs Cloud Push
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Meta as a major AI winner, with analysts and market commentators citing upside potential tied to its AI boom, custom chips, and massive data center spending. How Meta Platforms (META) Is Strengthening Its AI Infrastructure With Custom Chips and Massive Computing Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Meta continues to attract bullish attention from investors and media coverage, including commentary that the stock may have meaningful upside from current levels. Muse Image: Can Meta Platforms Inc (META) Kill Two Birds With One Stone?
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s AI chatbot now alerts parents if teens discuss suicide or self-harm, a safety-focused product update that may help reduce regulatory and reputational risk but is unlikely to move the stock much on its own. Meta now alerts parents if their teen discussed suicide or self-harm with its AI chatbot
• Neutral Sentiment: Wedbush initiated coverage with a neutral rating and a $671 price target, signaling a cautious but not bearish stance from analysts. Benzinga coverage of Wedbush initiation
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is still facing investor concern over its aggressive AI capital spending, with commentary warning that the company is “spending like an infrastructure company” while being valued like a growth stock. Meta Is Betting $50 Billion on AI Data Centers. Where Does The Stock Go From Here?
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that 26 employees are suing Meta over alleged AI-driven layoffs targeting workers on leave add legal and reputational overhang. Meta employees sue over alleged AI-driven layoffs targeting workers on leave

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $671.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,015.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $830.45.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.5%

The business has a 50-day moving average of $602.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $626.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,503 shares of company stock valued at $24,241,859. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Keybank National Association OH boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $88,319,000 after purchasing an additional 18,169 shares during the last quarter. WMS Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $876,000. Diversified Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,336 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.