Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Jennifer Newstead Sells 905 Shares

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total transaction of $453,015.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,944,071.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Jennifer Newstead also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, June 25th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total value of $449,775.95.
• On Tuesday, June 11th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $452,500.00.
• On Tuesday, June 4th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.00, for a total value of $431,685.00.
• On Tuesday, May 28th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.69, for a total value of $431,404.45.
• On Tuesday, May 21st, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.57, for a total transaction of $423,150.85.
• On Tuesday, May 7th, Jennifer Newstead sold 576 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $268,606.08.
• On Tuesday, April 30th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25.
• On Tuesday, April 23rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25.
• On Tuesday, April 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15.
• On Tuesday, April 9th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $509.96 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $481.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $458.42. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $545.00 price target (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.27.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after buying an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,890,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,978 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,296,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,719 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares during the last quarter. 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.