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

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price was down 0.6% during trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $431.96 and last traded at $438.93. Approximately 16,749,698 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 8% from the average daily volume of 18,163,588 shares. The stock had previously closed at $441.38.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at $27,574,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,574,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559 over the last three months. 13.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $495.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $403.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.