Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 3.4% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price traded down 3.4% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $596.04 and last traded at $598.44. 4,710,239 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 13,620,409 shares. The stock had previously closed at $619.56.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.00, for a total value of $370,272.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,054 shares in the company, valued at $4,904,886. This represents a 7.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on META. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.4 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $658.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $602.08. 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 market capitalization of $1.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.