Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells $577,513.05 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total value of $577,513.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 31,182 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,673.10. This represents a 2.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Jennifer Newstead also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, March 18th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total transaction of $552,830.25.
• On Tuesday, March 11th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $547,995.00.
• On Tuesday, March 4th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.00, for a total value of $593,124.00.
• On Tuesday, February 25th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $665.75, for a total value of $613,155.75.
• On Tuesday, February 18th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total value of $677,920.47.
• On Tuesday, February 11th, Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total transaction of $643,414.64.
• On Tuesday, February 4th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $702.24, for a total transaction of $635,527.20.
• On Tuesday, January 28th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $666.00, for a total transaction of $602,730.00.
• On Tuesday, January 21st, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $559,290.00.
• On Tuesday, January 14th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.54, for a total value of $547,108.70.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $576.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $655.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $609.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Two research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

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.