Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 7.8% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price was down 7.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $535.00 and last traded at $538.20. Approximately 13,780,166 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average daily volume of 14,292,756 shares. The stock had previously closed at $583.93.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total value of $525,577.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,268,742.26. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total value of $342,322.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,507,676.90. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $790.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.55.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 9.0 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $651.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $609.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $1,162,918,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.