Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CTO Sells $2,663,825.32 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $535.16 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $276.03 and a twelve month high of $542.81. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.83. The business has a fifty day moving average of $501.93 and a 200-day moving average of $490.13.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on META shares. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $574.41.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after acquiring an additional 163,067 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after acquiring an additional 51,900 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Voyager Global Management LP boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after acquiring an additional 140,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 400.0% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $885,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.