Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Jennifer Newstead Sells 585 Shares

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total value of $295,594.65. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,993,314.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

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

• On Tuesday, March 19th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.50, for a total transaction of $285,772.50.
• On Tuesday, March 12th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.75, for a total transaction of $288,843.75.
• On Tuesday, March 5th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $495.00, for a total value of $289,575.00.
• On Tuesday, February 27th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.00, for a total value of $280,800.00.
• On Tuesday, February 20th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.88, for a total transaction of $274,879.80.
• On Tuesday, February 6th, Jennifer Newstead sold 552 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.00, for a total transaction of $256,128.00.
• On Tuesday, January 30th, Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00.
• On Tuesday, January 23rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.00, for a total value of $217,910.00.
• On Tuesday, January 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.58, for a total transaction of $211,446.28.
• On Tuesday, January 9th, Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.40, for a total transaction of $201,722.40.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $493.86 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $464.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $375.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $197.90 and a 12-month high of $523.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on META. Truist Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $405.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $405.00 to $527.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $496.35.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,283,000. Fairman Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $403,000. Ariston Services Group bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $207,000. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $6,528,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.