Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1.3% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares were down 1.3% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $646.90 and last traded at $650.89. Approximately 3,611,611 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 14,477,113 shares. The stock had previously closed at $659.36.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 907 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $645.77, for a total transaction of $585,713.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,982,161.73. This represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.25, for a total transaction of $383,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,629,887.50. The trade was a 19.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $570.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $606.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.