Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 0.1% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares fell 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $513.56 and last traded at $519.07. 2,655,123 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 16,338,425 shares. The stock had previously closed at $519.56.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,794,965.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total value of $8,532,717.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 230,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,737,915.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,794,965.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 233,512 shares of company stock valued at $113,597,536 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $545.00 price target (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s fifty day moving average is $480.00 and its 200 day moving average is $454.77.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after acquiring an additional 244,803 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,890,950,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,978 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,719 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.