Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 0.6% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price traded down 0.6% during trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $609.71 and last traded at $613.16. 2,545,759 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 12,241,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $617.12.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.54, for a total transaction of $547,108.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,804,216.70. The trade was a 2.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.69, for a total transaction of $21,721,069.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $616.16, for a total value of $22,133,083.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $670.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $595.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $555.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.