Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1.4% – Here’s What Happened

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares were down 1.4% on Monday . The company traded as low as $599.82 and last traded at $599.00. Approximately 3,800,259 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 13,571,461 shares. The stock had previously closed at $607.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $770.00 target price (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $656.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $604.84.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.00, for a total transaction of $370,272.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,904,886. This trade represents a 7.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.47, for a total value of $545,235.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,820 shares in the company, valued at $20,375,535.40. The trade was a 2.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 631,415 shares of company stock worth $414,365,524. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.