Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1.4%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price dropped 1.4% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $517.40 and last traded at $517.49. Approximately 1,858,339 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 15,655,307 shares. The stock had previously closed at $524.62.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a market cap of $1.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.89, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $505.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $496.05.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $520.57, for a total value of $214,995.41. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,185 shares in the company, valued at $6,863,715.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $520.57, for a total value of $214,995.41. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 13,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,863,715.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 357,987 shares of company stock valued at $185,802,769. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.