Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 2% – Should You Sell?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) dropped 2% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $585.58 and last traded at $587.85. Approximately 2,322,284 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 14,696,330 shares. The stock had previously closed at $599.81.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $638.00.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $587.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $546.38.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,776,261.56. This represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 324,805 shares of company stock valued at $196,770,261. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,126,190 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $595,152,000. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after purchasing an additional 890,434 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.