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

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:METAGet Free Report)’s share price dropped 1.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $602.79 and last traded at $610.72. Approximately 10,067,187 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the average daily volume of 12,162,989 shares. The stock had previously closed at $617.89.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total transaction of $8,023,999.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 420,215 shares in the company, valued at $259,869,360.30. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total transaction of $21,951,323.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total transaction of $252,797.30. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,101 shares in the company, valued at $10,467,522.10. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Mizuho increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $645.80.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $592.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $552.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.77, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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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.

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