Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 0.6% After Insider Selling

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) traded down 0.6% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $495.19 and last traded at $496.84. 2,738,503 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 16,944,990 shares. The stock had previously closed at $499.76.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.00, for a total value of $217,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,585,110. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total transaction of $7,722,037.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.00, for a total value of $217,910.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,585,110. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,421,182 shares of company stock valued at $677,574,550 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.53.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $494.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $397.43.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.5% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $499,020,000 after acquiring an additional 249,926 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 284.0% during the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 2,482 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at about $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 26.9% during the first quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.