Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 0.2% on Insider Selling

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) dropped 0.2% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $498.01 and last traded at $501.48. Approximately 14,540,656 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 2% from the average daily volume of 14,827,047 shares. The stock had previously closed at $502.31.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.22, for a total value of $489,253.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 28,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,096,741.18. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.45, for a total transaction of $338,321.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,014 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,790,040.30. This trade represents a 10.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Wedbush cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $655.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $684.10.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $612.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $607.32.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $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.