Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 0.4% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was down 0.4% on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $665.67 and last traded at $671.73. Approximately 4,726,860 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 14,015,645 shares. The stock had previously closed at $674.33.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,366 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $648.68, for a total transaction of $14,508,376.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,234.40. The trade was a 97.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total transaction of $24,195,307.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.59, for a total value of $259,194.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,954,832.58. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $611.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $564.44. 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 cap of $1.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 39.74%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.44 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,266,531,000 after purchasing an additional 263,063 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after acquiring an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,101,602,000 after acquiring an additional 186,728 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.