Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 1.2% After Insider Selling

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) fell 1.2% during trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $582.22 and last traded at $585.80. 3,935,662 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 15,407,109 shares. The stock had previously closed at $592.89.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $583.73, for a total value of $241,080.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,973,238.58. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total value of $523,587.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,102 shares in the company, valued at $20,308,262.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $660.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $605.33.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $532.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $503.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Visionary Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 9,846 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,485,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $1,895,000. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 94,051 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,290,000 after buying an additional 10,495 shares during the period. Northwest Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $288,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.