Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1.2% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded down 1.2% during trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $637.55 and last traded at $639.60. 10,912,092 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 15,472,467 shares. The stock had previously closed at $647.10.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $639.03, for a total transaction of $330,378.51. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 14,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,680.04. This trade represents a 3.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on META shares. Benchmark downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $900.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson set a $825.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $819.43.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $673.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $706.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.