Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 0.9% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was down 0.9% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $585.81 and last traded at $586.33. Approximately 2,760,099 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 15,077,312 shares. The stock had previously closed at $591.70.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total transaction of $511,497.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total transaction of $234,410.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,842,668.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Mizuho raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $560.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $515.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 48.8% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,886,000 after acquiring an additional 16,138 shares during the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 45.5% in the first quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 347,378 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $168,624,000 after buying an additional 108,555 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $8,877,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.3% during the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,561 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,642,000 after acquiring an additional 566 shares during the period. Finally, Peoples Bank OH increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.2% during the first quarter. Peoples Bank OH now owns 3,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. 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.