Jennifer Newstead Sells 519 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $375,278.52. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,588 shares in the company, valued at $19,225,251.04. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, July 8th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $721.57, for a total transaction of $374,494.83.
• On Tuesday, July 1st, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $737.00, for a total transaction of $382,503.00.
• On Tuesday, June 24th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $704.89, for a total transaction of $365,837.91.
• On Tuesday, June 17th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.99, for a total transaction of $364,332.81.
• On Tuesday, June 10th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.00, for a total transaction of $363,819.00.
• On Tuesday, June 3rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $671.00, for a total transaction of $348,249.00.
• On Tuesday, May 27th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.41, for a total transaction of $329,777.79.
• On Tuesday, May 20th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $635.50, for a total transaction of $329,824.50.
• On Friday, May 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.72, for a total transaction of $330,457.68.
• On Tuesday, May 13th, Jennifer Newstead sold 907 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $645.77, for a total transaction of $585,713.39.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of META opened at $698.48 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $747.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $683.85 and a 200 day moving average of $637.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.31, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Suvretta Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $99,735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 130.9% in the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $44,616,000 after acquiring an additional 43,200 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 255.9% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,709,694 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,001,044,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229,350 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 368,499 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $215,760,000 after purchasing an additional 73,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arcadia Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $600,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday. Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $736.05.

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.