Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 2.2% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was down 2.2% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $484.66 and last traded at $490.73. Approximately 6,650,881 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 16,893,307 shares. The stock had previously closed at $501.80.

Specifically, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.00, for a total transaction of $217,910.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 35,286 shares in the company, valued at $13,585,110. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,421,182 shares of company stock worth $677,574,550 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.53.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $494.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $398.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.42%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 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.