Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Dividend Announcement

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $617.78 and last traded at $613.78, with a volume of 14190822 shares. The stock had previously closed at $613.65.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $578.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $531.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $538,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,738,325. The trade was a 2.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total value of $11,150,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at $188,810,838.24. The trade was a 5.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 142,160 shares of company stock valued at $81,611,223 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $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 valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.