Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 2.1% Higher Following Dividend Announcement

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded up 2.1% during mid-day trading on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $624.31 and last traded at $621.71. 6,407,204 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 14,796,893 shares. The stock had previously closed at $608.93.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $579.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $532.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 142,160 shares of company stock worth $81,611,223 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after buying an additional 4,126,190 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $595,152,000. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,662,000 after acquiring an additional 890,434 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.