Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Reaches New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $617.78 and last traded at $613.78, with a volume of 14190822 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $613.65.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $578.51 and a 200 day moving average of $531.05.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $538,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,738,325. The trade was a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 142,160 shares of company stock valued at $81,611,223. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $240,000. Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,148,000. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.3% during the second quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 2,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,152,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Sitrin Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1,058.8% in the second quarter. Sitrin Capital Management LLC now owns 9,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,967,000 after acquiring an additional 9,000 shares during the period. Finally, Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 48.5% in the second quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 784 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. 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.