Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 0.7% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares were down 0.7% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $694.21 and last traded at $698.78. Approximately 4,467,588 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 15,492,209 shares. The stock had previously closed at $703.77.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $703.21, for a total value of $13,830,734.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $647.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $590.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $1.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $261,680,000 after acquiring an additional 112,047 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 7,642 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 26,964 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $15,435,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RBA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $4,870,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.