Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells 905 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,641,281.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, October 8th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total value of $533,850.45.
• On Tuesday, October 1st, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total value of $523,587.75.
• On Tuesday, September 17th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total transaction of $486,636.60.
• On Tuesday, September 10th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15.
• On Tuesday, September 3rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total transaction of $470,600.00.
• On Tuesday, August 27th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.05, for a total value of $469,740.25.
• On Tuesday, August 20th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.38, for a total value of $478,183.90.
• 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 stock was 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 transaction of $443,269.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $576.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $546.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $508.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JMP Securities raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three 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, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $617.37.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bath Savings Trust Co acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $218,000. jvl associates llc lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 777 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Emprise Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $1,801,000. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 15,055 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,310,000 after buying an additional 1,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abner Herrman & Brock LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 39.2% in the 1st quarter. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC now owns 15,990 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,764,000 after acquiring an additional 4,499 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.