Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 0.7% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price was down 0.7% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $616.54 and last traded at $619.70. Approximately 3,447,180 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 14,677,955 shares. The stock had previously closed at $624.24.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $622.24, for a total value of $22,351,483.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,019,340. This trade represents a 2.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $614.36, for a total transaction of $7,971,321.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 594,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $365,009,092.44. This trade represents a 2.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $636.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $585.29 and its 200 day moving average is $540.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SMART Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 53.7% during the third quarter. SMART Wealth LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $787,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 613,015 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $350,914,000 after purchasing an additional 6,249 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $433,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 13,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,728,000 after buying an additional 3,420 shares during the period. Finally, 1ST Source Bank increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 5,280 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,022,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.