Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 0.9% – Here’s What Happened

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares fell 0.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $571.04 and last traded at $571.38. 2,402,900 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 15,143,795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $576.47.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Loop Capital increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $619.20.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $548.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $509.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.41, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at $311,054,400. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $190,756.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,573,817. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 250,324 shares of company stock valued at $132,218,368 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.