Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells $478,183.90 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.38, for a total value of $478,183.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,416,298.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

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

• On Friday, August 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total value of $481,650.05.
• On Monday, August 5th, Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15.
• On Tuesday, July 23rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total value of $443,269.00.
• On Tuesday, July 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.42, for a total value of $453,785.10.
• On Tuesday, July 9th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total value of $483,224.75.
• On Tuesday, July 2nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total value of $453,015.85.
• 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 shares were 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 shares were sold at an average price of $476.69, for a total value of $431,404.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $528.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s 50 day moving average is $502.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $490.42. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $276.03 and a 12-month high of $544.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.33, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Private Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,038 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 58.0% in the 4th quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,198 shares during the period. Hartline Investment Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Hartline Investment Corp now owns 3,580 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,267,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,876,000. Finally, Carret Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 22,734 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,047,000 after buying an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $574.41.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.