Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 1% After Insider Selling

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) fell 1% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $567.00 and last traded at $568.05. 2,090,504 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 14,887,581 shares. The stock had previously closed at $573.54.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. This represents a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on META. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Loop Capital upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Mizuho upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a fifty day moving average of $573.38 and a 200 day moving average of $525.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Central Valley Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the third quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after acquiring an additional 18 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.