Christopher K. Cox Sells 20,000 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 308,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ META traded down $2.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $625.66. 20,863,464 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,679,259. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $656.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $599.31.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. DA Davidson raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $719.26.

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.