Andrew Bosworth Sells 5,057 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $2,918,698.12. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 8,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,943,375.40. This represents a 37.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Andrew Bosworth also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 18th, Andrew Bosworth sold 14,746 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.53, for a total value of $8,162,353.38.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of META stock opened at $561.09 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $313.66 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The business’s fifty day moving average is $570.23 and its 200-day moving average is $522.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 48.8% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,886,000 after purchasing an additional 16,138 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 67,195 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $32,629,000 after purchasing an additional 12,301 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 541.8% during the 1st quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,862,000 after buying an additional 3,224 shares during the period. Northern Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.3% in the first quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 7,131 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,463,000 after buying an additional 1,396 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.