Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.53 on March 26th

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of 0.525 per share by the social networking company on Thursday, March 26th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th.

Meta Platforms has a payout ratio of 7.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Meta Platforms to earn $30.21 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.10 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 7.0%.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $639.77 on Friday. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $657.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $693.40. The company has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Oppenheimer downgraded Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold 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 $845.50.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.