Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 2.3% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded down 2.3% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $715.10 and last traded at $720.09. 8,155,055 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 15,340,724 shares. The stock had previously closed at $736.67.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $734.49, for a total value of $14,445,949.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total transaction of $643,414.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,488 shares in the company, valued at $19,607,740.16. This trade represents a 3.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,795 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $715.82, for a total transaction of $25,622,776.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $643.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $587.57. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.93, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in 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.