Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Christopher K. Cox Sells 20,000 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. This trade represents a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $655.05 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $654.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $597.91. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on META. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

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.