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

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.6 %

META stock opened at $683.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $647.09 and a 200 day moving average of $590.57.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) 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 in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. 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 payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price objective (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.90.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.