Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells $333,836.37 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $643.23, for a total value of $333,836.37. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 29,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,101,358.08. This represents a 1.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

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

• On Tuesday, December 9th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $664.16, for a total value of $344,699.04.
• On Tuesday, December 2nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $642.22, for a total value of $333,312.18.
• On Tuesday, November 25th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $624.14, for a total value of $323,928.66.
• On Tuesday, November 18th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $307,040.40.
• On Monday, November 10th, Jennifer Newstead sold 516 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.00, for a total transaction of $325,596.00.
• On Tuesday, November 4th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $628.00, for a total transaction of $325,932.00.
• On Tuesday, October 28th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.00, for a total transaction of $390,807.00.
• On Tuesday, October 21st, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.37, for a total transaction of $382,176.03.
• On Tuesday, October 14th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $707.85, for a total transaction of $367,374.15.
• On Tuesday, October 7th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.98, for a total value of $372,112.62.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded up $14.95 on Thursday, hitting $664.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,664,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,539,256. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $662.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $707.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research lowered Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $840.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $819.46.

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.