Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 0.3% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was down 0.3% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $610.71 and last traded at $612.07. Approximately 2,329,400 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 14,812,556 shares. The stock had previously closed at $613.78.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $538,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,738,325. The trade was a 2.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.49, for a total transaction of $238,503.37. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 19,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,068,173.34. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted 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. Mizuho raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.8 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $577.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $530.51. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.