Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 2.6% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price was down 2.6% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $528.59 and last traded at $532.06. Approximately 6,329,307 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 14,705,042 shares. The stock had previously closed at $546.29.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total transaction of $500,462.19. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,943,062.60. This represents a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $790.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $701.38.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.6 %

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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $631.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $609.28. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.24, 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. 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 payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Brueske Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,908,382,000 after purchasing an additional 110,040 shares during the last quarter. 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.