Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 1.6% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price fell 1.6% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $589.83 and last traded at $593.95. 2,061,874 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 14,722,797 shares. The stock had previously closed at $603.35.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $638.00.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.92, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $587.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $545.17. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $235,872,000 after buying an additional 5,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 721,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $412,606,000 after buying an additional 91,773 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.