Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Jennifer Newstead Sells 905 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total transaction of $486,636.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,848,320.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, September 10th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15.
• On Tuesday, September 3rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total value of $470,600.00.
• On Tuesday, August 27th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.05, for a total value of $469,740.25.
• On Tuesday, August 20th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.38, for a total value of $478,183.90.
• On Friday, August 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total value of $481,650.05.
• On Monday, August 5th, Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15.
• On Tuesday, July 23rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total transaction of $443,269.00.
• On Tuesday, July 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.42, for a total transaction of $453,785.10.
• On Tuesday, July 9th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total transaction of $483,224.75.
• On Tuesday, July 2nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total value of $453,015.85.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded up $21.15 during trading on Thursday, reaching $559.10. The company had a trading volume of 15,362,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,646,086. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $562.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $505.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $496.34.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,695,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440,229 shares during the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after buying an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after buying an additional 3,104,550 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $595,152,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on META shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

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.