Christopher K. Cox Sells 10,000 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total value of $5,699,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 328,662 shares in the company, valued at $187,314,333.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $567.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $577.40. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $514.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $499.02. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $660.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.23.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. S.A. Mason LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 5.7% in the second quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 371 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the first quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buckingham Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during 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.