Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 2.6% on Insider Selling

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) traded down 2.6% on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $590.74 and last traded at $592.50. 5,251,927 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 11,884,012 shares. The stock had previously closed at $608.33.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total transaction of $7,984,944.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 381,290 shares in the company, valued at $234,649,678.90. This trade represents a 3.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.55, for a total value of $571,552.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,215,915.50. The trade was a 2.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total value of $8,023,999.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 420,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,869,360.30. This trade represents a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Pivotal Research upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $595.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $554.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Mason & Associates Inc grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 1,372 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $803,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Brady Family Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Brady Family Wealth LLC now owns 2,671 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. Rovin Capital UT ADV grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 1,318 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $772,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC now owns 4,112 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,408,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.