Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 0.6% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price traded down 0.6% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $431.96 and last traded at $438.93. 16,749,698 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 8% from the average session volume of 18,163,588 shares. The stock had previously closed at $441.38.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total transaction of $228,664.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total transaction of $245,578.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,089 shares in the company, valued at $3,552,865.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $494.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $404.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.37% and a net margin of 32.06%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. BLB&B Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 54.6% in the first quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 5,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,621,000 after purchasing an additional 1,907 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 127,085 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $61,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357 shares during the period. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $204,000. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the first quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 43,318 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $21,034,000 after purchasing an additional 5,157 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.