Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1.4% After Insider Selling

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) fell 1.4% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $580.14 and last traded at $582.35. 3,051,883 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 15,264,379 shares. The stock had previously closed at $590.42.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.83, for a total value of $241,534.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,533 shares in the company, valued at $6,744,844.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total transaction of $533,850.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,172,468.33. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,493,681. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $585.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $617.37.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50 day moving average is $544.01 and its 200-day moving average is $507.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Bath Savings Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $218,000. jvl associates llc increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.9% in the first quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 777 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Emprise Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $1,801,000. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 15,055 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,310,000 after buying an additional 1,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abner Herrman & Brock LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 39.2% in the first quarter. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC now owns 15,990 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,764,000 after acquiring an additional 4,499 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.