Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CFO Susan J. Li Sells 8,553 Shares

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of META opened at $703.77 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $644.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $588.38.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 32.5% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $261,680,000 after purchasing an additional 112,047 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the third quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 6.3% in the third quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,985 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,854,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Veracity Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the third quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 3,394 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,943,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on META shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $717.90.

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.