Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells $652,767.96 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,131 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $652,767.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,329.64. This represents a 47.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Nicholas Clegg also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 18th, Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock traded up $6.69 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $561.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,155,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,035,363. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a 50 day moving average of $569.10 and a 200 day moving average of $521.96. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $313.66 and a 12-month high of $602.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

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.