Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 1.2% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was down 1.2% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $602.79 and last traded at $610.72. Approximately 10,067,187 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the average daily volume of 12,162,989 shares. The stock had previously closed at $617.89.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total value of $8,023,999.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 420,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $259,869,360.30. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total value of $21,951,323.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total transaction of $252,797.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,467,522.10. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.80.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The company has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.77, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $591.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $551.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% in the third quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during 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.