Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 2.3% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares dropped 2.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $715.10 and last traded at $720.09. Approximately 8,155,055 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 15,340,724 shares. The stock had previously closed at $736.67.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $734.49, for a total value of $14,445,949.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total value of $643,414.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,488 shares in the company, valued at $19,607,740.16. The trade was a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $715.82, for a total value of $25,622,776.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.8 %

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 market cap of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $643.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $587.57.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacific Point Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $755,000. Wick Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Wick Capital Partners LLC now owns 708 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $415,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 79.4% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 2,445 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares during the period. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,041,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $555,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.