Jennifer Newstead Sells 905 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. This represents a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

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

• On Tuesday, December 24th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.47, for a total transaction of $545,235.35.
• On Tuesday, December 17th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.66, for a total value of $567,127.30.
• On Tuesday, December 10th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $559,290.00.
• On Tuesday, December 3rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $538,475.00.
• On Tuesday, November 26th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total transaction of $511,596.50.
• On Tuesday, November 5th, Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total transaction of $511,497.70.
• On Tuesday, October 29th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total transaction of $524,990.50.
• On Tuesday, October 22nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total value of $520,103.50.
• On Tuesday, October 15th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85.
• On Tuesday, October 8th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total value of $533,850.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of META opened at $604.63 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $589.88 and its 200-day moving average is $548.87. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $343.40 and a 12 month high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 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 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% in the third quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped 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 note on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $642.88.

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.