Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CTO Sells 5,057 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $2,918,698.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 8,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,943,375.40. This trade represents a 37.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Andrew Bosworth also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 18th, Andrew Bosworth sold 14,746 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.53, for a total value of $8,162,353.38.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $563.09 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $572.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $523.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $313.66 and a 1-year high of $602.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

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.