Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 0.9% Higher After Dividend Announcement

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price rose 0.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $521.63 and last traded at $517.26. Approximately 2,977,624 shares traded hands during mid-day 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given 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 company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $576.66.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $505.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $494.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total value of $470,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,135,440. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total transaction of $470,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 38,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,135,440. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 4,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.17, for a total value of $2,548,605.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $269,449,230. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 390,977 shares of company stock valued at $202,384,548 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $105,117,000. Creekside Partners bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $327,000. NCP Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. NCP Inc. now owns 114,048 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $57,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares during the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,333,000. Finally, Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 52.8% during the 2nd quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 25,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,608,000 after purchasing an additional 8,638 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.