Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CTO Sells $8,162,353.38 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 14,746 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.53, for a total value of $8,162,353.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Andrew Bosworth also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, November 15th, Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $2,918,698.12.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $563.09 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $572.05 and a 200-day moving average of $523.31. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $313.66 and a 1-year high of $602.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 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 company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on META shares. Raymond James upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $296,000. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.5% in the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,048 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares in the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 2,853 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.1% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 3,219 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Second Line Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 10,222 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,852,000 after buying an additional 1,948 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.