Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 4.5% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price fell 4.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $554.67 and last traded at $559.20. 7,731,409 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 14,645,962 shares. The stock had previously closed at $585.77.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $704.62.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 6.5 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $634.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $609.40. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.