Jennifer Newstead Sells 921 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total transaction of $500,462.19. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,943,062.60. This represents a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

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

• On Tuesday, April 1st, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total transaction of $525,577.86.
• On Tuesday, March 25th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05.
• On Tuesday, March 18th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total value of $552,830.25.
• On Tuesday, March 11th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $547,995.00.
• On Tuesday, March 4th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.00, for a total value of $593,124.00.
• On Tuesday, February 25th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $665.75, for a total value of $613,155.75.
• On Tuesday, February 18th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total transaction of $677,920.47.
• On Tuesday, February 11th, Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total transaction of $643,414.64.
• On Tuesday, February 4th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $702.24, for a total transaction of $635,527.20.
• On Tuesday, January 28th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $666.00, for a total value of $602,730.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $543.57 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $628.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $609.11. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $701.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $866,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,908,382,000 after acquiring an additional 110,040 shares during the period. 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.