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

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) fell 1.2% on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $622.37 and last traded at $623.35. 1,899,384 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 14,713,942 shares. The stock had previously closed at $630.79.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,019,340. This trade represents a 2.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $614.36, for a total transaction of $7,971,321.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 594,129 shares in the company, valued at $365,009,092.44. The trade was a 2.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total value of $22,746,973.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Pivotal Research upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $635.20.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $583.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $537.42. The company has a market cap of $1.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $2,365,820,000 after buying an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $595,152,000. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $520,662,000 after acquiring an additional 890,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 worth $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.