Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1.2% – Should You Sell?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price traded down 1.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $610.50 and last traded at $618.67. 4,437,466 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 13,789,312 shares. The stock had previously closed at $626.31.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $656.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $608.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total value of $243,323.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. The trade was a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 585,605 shares of company stock worth $386,710,448. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.