Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1.4% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price traded down 1.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $580.14 and last traded at $582.35. 3,051,883 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 15,264,379 shares. The stock had previously closed at $590.42.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $584.83, for a total value of $241,534.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,744,844.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total transaction of $533,850.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,172,468.33. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value 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 approximately $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $617.37.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.0 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $544.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $507.60. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bath Savings Trust Co purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $218,000. jvl associates llc increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 6.9% in the first quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 777 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Emprise Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $1,801,000. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 13.8% in the first quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 15,055 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,310,000 after buying an additional 1,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abner Herrman & Brock LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 39.2% in the first quarter. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC now owns 15,990 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,764,000 after buying an additional 4,499 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.