Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells 905 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.55, for a total transaction of $571,552.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,215,915.50. This trade represents a 2.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Jennifer Newstead also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, December 31st, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80.
• On Tuesday, December 24th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $602.47, for a total transaction of $545,235.35.
• On Tuesday, December 17th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.66, for a total transaction of $567,127.30.
• On Tuesday, December 10th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $559,290.00.
• On Tuesday, December 3rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $538,475.00.
• On Tuesday, November 26th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total transaction of $511,596.50.
• On Tuesday, November 5th, Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total value of $511,497.70.
• On Tuesday, October 29th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total transaction of $524,990.50.
• On Tuesday, October 22nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total transaction of $520,103.50.
• On Tuesday, October 15th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded up $5.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $615.86. 19,223,919 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,343,199. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $358.61 and a 52-week high of $638.40. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $592.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $552.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on META. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $670.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two equities 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $646.90.

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.