Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 0% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded down 0% on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $589.26 and last traded at $591.22. 1,267,449 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 14,663,096 shares. The stock had previously closed at $591.24.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,311 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.21, for a total transaction of $1,387,085.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.47, for a total transaction of $545,235.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,375,535.40. This represents a 2.61 % 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 Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.46, for a total transaction of $21,712,807.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $638.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $587.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $546.38.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for 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, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.