Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 2.2% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded down 2.2% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $484.66 and last traded at $490.73. 6,650,881 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 16,893,307 shares. The stock had previously closed at $501.80.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares in the company, valued at $18,853,183.67. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.90, for a total transaction of $3,500,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,086,721.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total transaction of $291,675.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,421,182 shares of company stock worth $677,574,550. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.53.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.1 %

The business has a fifty day moving average of $494.55 and a 200-day moving average of $399.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.29, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.00 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $499,020,000 after purchasing an additional 249,926 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 284.0% during the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 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.