Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 0.8%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares were down 0.8% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $496.27 and last traded at $497.80. Approximately 8,534,329 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 16,489,068 shares. The stock had previously closed at $501.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $478.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $447.50. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total transaction of $194,752.40. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,268,235.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total transaction of $194,752.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,268,235.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,169 shares of company stock valued at $153,344,736 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HM Payson & Co. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 8.1% in the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 93,423 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $45,365,000 after purchasing an additional 7,007 shares during the period. Chelsea Counsel Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $194,000. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,352 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $656,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Jackson Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $599,000. Finally, American Trust grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. American Trust now owns 3,179 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,544,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.