Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 1.2% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) fell 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $622.37 and last traded at $623.35. 1,899,384 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 14,713,942 shares. The stock had previously closed at $630.79.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,630 shares in the company, valued at $22,019,340. This represents a 2.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $614.36, for a total transaction of $7,971,321.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 594,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $365,009,092.44. The trade was a 2.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total transaction of $22,746,973.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on META shares. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $635.20.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $583.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $537.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after acquiring an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after acquiring an additional 5,953 shares in the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.