Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 1.2% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) fell 1.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $602.79 and last traded at $610.72. 10,067,187 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 17% from the average session volume of 12,162,989 shares. The stock had previously closed at $617.89.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total value of $8,023,999.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 420,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $259,869,360.30. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total transaction of $21,951,323.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total transaction of $252,797.30. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,467,522.10. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $646.90.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $593.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $552.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $595,152,000. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,662,000 after acquiring an additional 890,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.