Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 2.6% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) traded down 2.6% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $590.74 and last traded at $592.50. 5,251,927 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 11,884,012 shares. The stock had previously closed at $608.33.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total transaction of $7,984,944.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 381,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,649,678.90. The trade was a 3.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.55, for a total transaction of $571,552.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,010 shares in the company, valued at $20,215,915.50. This represents a 2.75 % 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 Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total value of $8,023,999.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 420,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $259,869,360.30. The trade was a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50-day moving average is $595.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $554.81. 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 released 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fiera Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 27,272 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,089 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the second quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,283,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the second quarter. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,086 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,565,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP grew its position in Meta Platforms by 8.4% during the second quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 48,480 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $24,445,000 after purchasing an additional 3,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Williams Financial LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,650,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.