Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells $652,767.96 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,131 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $652,767.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,229 shares in the company, valued at $709,329.64. The trade was a 47.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Nicholas Clegg also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 18th, Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $563.09 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $313.66 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $572.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $523.31. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,388,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

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.