Susan J. Li Sells 8,951 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at $29,776,261.56. This represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $565.52 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $571.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $523.03. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.64, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $313.66 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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 business had revenue of $40.59 billion for 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

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.