Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CFO Sells $10,320,386.20 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,644 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.55, for a total transaction of $10,320,386.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,888,979.95. The trade was a 28.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ META opened at $561.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.43, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $313.66 and a 1-year high of $602.95. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $570.23 and a 200-day moving average of $522.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

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.