Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Gap Up After Dividend Announcement

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock had previously closed at $639.60, but opened at $676.00. Meta Platforms shares last traded at $666.5490, with a volume of 15,058,223 shares.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $825.00 price objective (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $819.43.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.8%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $673.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $706.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,432,843.65. The trade was a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,570,306. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 41,959 shares of company stock worth $26,671,107 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Saranac Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $1,120,000. Severin Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Severin Investments LLC now owns 2,599 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 86,688 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $63,662,000 after purchasing an additional 10,946 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 31,391 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,066,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 702,996 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $516,266,000 after buying an additional 13,261 shares in the last quarter. 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.