Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 0.8% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price fell 0.8% during trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $585.10 and last traded at $585.51. 1,883,011 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 15,366,649 shares. The stock had previously closed at $590.51.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total value of $533,850.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,197 shares in the company, valued at $20,172,468.33. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $583.73, for a total value of $241,080.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,946 shares in the company, valued at $6,973,238.58. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.11, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $538.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $505.52.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 10.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,834 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,151,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 21.8% during the third quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 716,847 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $410,352,000 after acquiring an additional 14,754 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 21.9% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 80,558 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $46,115,000 after acquiring an additional 14,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 38.4% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 31,079 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $17,791,000 after acquiring an additional 8,619 shares during the last quarter. 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.