Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 0.4% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) dropped 0.4% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $665.67 and last traded at $671.73. Approximately 4,726,860 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 14,015,645 shares. The stock had previously closed at $674.33.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,366 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $648.68, for a total value of $14,508,376.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,234.40. This represents a 97.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total value of $24,195,307.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.59, for a total transaction of $259,194.67. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,954,832.58. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price objective (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.5 %

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $611.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $564.44. The company has a market cap of $1.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.74% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.44 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Creekside Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $327,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $213,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 20,112 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,141,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 75.1% during the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 23,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $11,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $2,925,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.