Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 2.6% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded down 2.6% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $573.09 and last traded at $576.63. 9,111,765 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 15,076,720 shares. The stock had previously closed at $591.80.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total value of $524,990.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,262,708.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total transaction of $237,128.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,531.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $555.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $513.03. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.26% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.42%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.