Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Jennifer Newstead Sells 585 Shares

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

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

• On Tuesday, April 9th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00.
• On Tuesday, April 2nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $485.00, for a total value of $283,725.00.
• On Tuesday, March 26th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total value of $295,594.65.
• On Tuesday, March 19th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.50, for a total value of $285,772.50.
• On Tuesday, March 12th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.75, for a total value of $288,843.75.
• On Tuesday, March 5th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $495.00, for a total value of $289,575.00.
• On Tuesday, February 27th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.00, for a total value of $280,800.00.
• On Tuesday, February 20th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.88, for a total value of $274,879.80.
• On Tuesday, February 6th, Jennifer Newstead sold 552 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.00, for a total value of $256,128.00.
• On Tuesday, January 30th, Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of META opened at $501.80 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $494.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $397.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $207.13 and a 52-week high of $531.49. The company has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.5% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $499,020,000 after purchasing an additional 249,926 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 284.0% during the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.9% during the first quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $465.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Mizuho increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.53.

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.