Meta Platforms Stock Shares $178 Bil Success With Investors
In the last decade, Meta Platforms (META) stock has returned an impressive $178 Bil back to its shareholders through cold, hard cash via dividends and buybacks. Let’s look at some numbers and compare how this payout power stacks up against the market’s biggest capital-return machines.
As it turns out, META stock has returned the 6th highest amount to shareholders in history.
| META | S&P Median | |
|---|---|---|
| Dividends | $7.7 Bil | $4.4 Bil |
| Share Repurchase | $171 Bil | $5.6 Bil |
| Total Returned | $178 Bil | $9.2 Bil |
| Total Returned as % of Current Market Cap | 11.3% | 25.9% |
Why should you care? Because dividends and share repurchases represent direct, tangible returns of capital to shareholders. They also signal management’s confidence in the company’s financial health and ability to generate sustainable cash flows. And there are more stocks like that. Here is a list of the top 10 companies ranked by total capital returned to shareholders via dividends and stock repurchases.
Love the META stock? Great. But don’t get too attached. Stocks crash. High Quality Portfolio lets you navigate that risk.
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- Can Meta Platforms Stock Recover If Markets Fall?
Top 10 Stocks By Total Shareholder Return
| Total Money Returned | As % Of Current Market Cap | via Dividends | via Share Repurchases | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | $847 Bil | 21.1% | $141 Bil | $706 Bil |
| MSFT | $364 Bil | 9.5% | $165 Bil | $199 Bil |
| GOOGL | $343 Bil | 10.0% | $12 Bil | $331 Bil |
| XOM | $212 Bil | 43.0% | $145 Bil | $67 Bil |
| WFC | $208 Bil | 73.8% | $59 Bil | $150 Bil |
| META | $178 Bil | 11.1% | $7.7 Bil | $171 Bil |
| JPM | $174 Bil | 20.2% | $0.0 | $174 Bil |
| ORCL | $161 Bil | 22.0% | $34 Bil | $126 Bil |
| JNJ | $157 Bil | 34.9% | $104 Bil | $52 Bil |
| CVX | $153 Bil | 57.6% | $97 Bil | $55 Bil |
For full ranking, visit Buybacks & Dividends Ranking
What do you notice here? The total capital returned to shareholders as a % of the current market cap appears inversely proportional to growth prospects for reinvestments. Stocks like Meta (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) are growing much faster, in a more predictable way, compared to the others, but they have returned a much lower fraction of their market cap to shareholders.
That’s the flip side to high capital returns. Sure, they are attractive, but you have to ask yourself the question: Am I sacrificing growth and sound fundamentals? With that in mind, let’s look at some numbers for META. (see Buy or Sell Meta Platforms Stock for more details)
Meta Platforms Fundamentals
- Revenue Growth: 21.3% LTM and 17.3% last 3-year average.
- Cash Generation: Nearly 23.7% free cash flow margin and 43.2% operating margin LTM.
- Recent Revenue Shocks: The minimum annual revenue growth in the last 3 years for META was 0.9%.
- Valuation: Meta Platforms stock trades at a P/E multiple of 27.0
| META | S&P Median | |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Communication Services | – |
| Industry | Interactive Media & Services | – |
| PE Ratio | 27.0 | 23.7 |
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| LTM* Revenue Growth | 21.3% | 5.6% |
| 3Y Average Annual Revenue Growth | 17.3% | 5.3% |
| Min Annual Revenue Growth Last 3Y | 0.9% | -0.0% |
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| LTM* Operating Margin | 43.2% | 18.8% |
| 3Y Average Operating Margin | 37.4% | 18.2% |
| LTM* Free Cash Flow Margin | 23.7% | 13.4% |
*LTM: Last Twelve Months
That’s a good overview, but evaluating a stock from an investment perspective involves much more. That is exactly what Trefis High Quality Portfolio does. It is designed to reduce stock-specific risk while giving upside exposure.
META Historical Risk
Meta’s not immune to big drops. It fell about 43% in the 2018 correction, 35% during the Covid plunge, and took a hit of over 76% in the inflation shock. Even with strong fundamentals, when the market turns, Meta can dive hard. Solid companies don’t mean zero risk.
But the risk is not limited to major market crashes. Stocks fall even when markets are good – think events like earnings, business updates, and outlook changes. Read META Dip Buyer Analyses to see how the stock has recovered from sharp dips in the past.
The Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio, with a collection of 30 stocks, has a track record of comfortably outperforming its benchmark that includes all 3 – the S&P 500, S&P mid-cap, and Russell 2000 indices. Why is that? As a group, HQ Portfolio stocks provided better returns with less risk versus the benchmark index; less of a roller-coaster ride, as evident in HQ Portfolio performance metrics.