Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 2.2% on Insider Selling

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) dropped 2.2% during trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $598.45 and last traded at $602.54. Approximately 4,245,541 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 11,967,252 shares. The stock had previously closed at $615.86.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.55, for a total value of $571,552.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,215,915.50. The trade was a 2.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total value of $8,023,999.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 420,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,869,360.30. This represents a 3.00 % 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 stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total transaction of $21,951,323.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $647.98.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $593.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $553.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ACT Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. now owns 1,116 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 51,881 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $30,377,000 after purchasing an additional 4,523 shares during the last quarter. City State Bank increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. City State Bank now owns 1,845 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its position in Meta Platforms by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 8,778 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,140,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winthrop Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,100 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,157,000 after buying an additional 153 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.