Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 2.2% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) were down 2.2% during trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $484.66 and last traded at $490.73. Approximately 6,650,881 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 16,893,307 shares. The stock had previously closed at $501.80.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,421,182 shares of company stock valued at $677,574,550 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.53.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $494.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $397.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders 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 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.