Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1.5%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price dropped 1.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $432.51 and last traded at $436.54. Approximately 6,613,584 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 18,238,789 shares. The stock had previously closed at $443.29.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $494.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $405.39. The company has a market cap of $1.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,277,048 shares of company stock worth $620,679,759 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Global Investments boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.2% in the first quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 30,525 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $14,822,000 after acquiring an additional 2,045 shares during the last quarter. Brio Consultants LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $438,000. Fiduciary Planning LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 58.5% in the first quarter. Fiduciary Planning LLC now owns 1,449 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Union Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 67.1% in the first quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 1,704 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $827,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RAM Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the first quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,768 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $859,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. 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.