Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CAO Aaron Anderson Sells 731 Shares

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.2 %

META stock traded up $6.69 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $561.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,155,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,035,363. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $313.66 and a 12 month high of $602.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business's 50 day moving average price is $569.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $521.96. The company has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Benchmark reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $634.10.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lindenwold Advisors INC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,388,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Central Valley Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,595,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,099,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.

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