Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price fell 1% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $567.00 and last traded at $568.05. 2,090,504 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 14,887,581 shares. The stock had previously closed at $573.54.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total transaction of $232,424.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at $11,018,473.83. The trade was a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.76, a PEG ratio of 1.25 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $573.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $525.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

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