Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 0.6%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) dropped 0.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $495.19 and last traded at $496.84. Approximately 2,738,503 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 16,944,990 shares. The stock had previously closed at $499.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.28.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $493.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $396.01.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total transaction of $7,513,615.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total transaction of $7,513,615.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,439,788 shares of company stock worth $684,542,792 over the last three months. 14.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Stockton boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Signify Wealth purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $228,000. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Keel Point LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.3% in the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 6,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,008,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $269,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.