Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CFO Sells $6,300,738.51 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of META traded down $11.22 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $683.62. 15,609,265 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,750,735. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company's fifty day moving average price is $647.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $590.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $717.90.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 37,351 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $21,869,000 after buying an additional 3,939 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,212 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,295,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $216,000. Perennial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,294,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $303,000. Hedge funds and other 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.