Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 0.8% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price was down 0.8% during trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $598.94 and last traded at $603.11. 1,899,774 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 14,757,083 shares. The stock had previously closed at $607.75.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.47, for a total transaction of $545,235.35. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,820 shares in the company, valued at $20,375,535.40. This trade represents a 2.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.46, for a total transaction of $21,712,807.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total value of $243,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,576,930. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $638.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $587.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $545.85. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.25, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% in the third quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.