Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.53 Per Share

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.525 per share by the social networking company on Wednesday, March 26th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50.

Meta Platforms has a dividend payout ratio of 7.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Meta Platforms to earn $30.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.6%.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $728.56 on Friday. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $729.00. 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 market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $636.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $580.80.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company posted $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. UBS Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $717.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This represents a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,644 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.55, for a total value of $10,320,386.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,769 shares in the company, valued at $25,888,979.95. The trade was a 28.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 793,070 shares of company stock valued at $504,185,108 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.