Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 0.9% Following Dividend Announcement

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares were up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $521.63 and last traded at $517.26. Approximately 2,977,624 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 15,846,526 shares. The stock had previously closed at $512.74.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 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 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. TD Securities boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $576.66.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $505.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $494.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.18, for a total value of $8,404,112.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 301,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,697,700.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.18, for a total value of $8,404,112.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $151,697,700.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $452,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 40,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,280,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 390,977 shares of company stock worth $202,384,548. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after buying an additional 163,067 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,265,862,000 after purchasing an additional 51,900 shares during the period. Voyager Global Management LP increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 400.0% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 166,403 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $58,900,000 after buying an additional 7,415 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.