Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 12.7% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price traded down 12.7% during trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $414.50 and last traded at $430.75. 39,868,671 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 127% from the average session volume of 17,587,275 shares. The stock had previously closed at $493.50.

Specifically, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $494.48 and a 200-day moving average of $404.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. 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 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton grew its position in Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Signify Wealth purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $79,212,000 after acquiring an additional 4,025 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.