Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 2.6% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares were down 2.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $608.23 and last traded at $613.61. Approximately 4,546,834 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 10,568,646 shares. The stock had previously closed at $630.20.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total value of $21,695,565.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total value of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at $10,318,548.24. This represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two equities research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $645.80.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $591.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $551.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.77, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% in the 3rd 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. 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.