Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 2.6% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) dropped 2.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $608.23 and last traded at $613.61. Approximately 4,546,834 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 10,568,646 shares. The stock had previously closed at $630.20.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total transaction of $21,695,565.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total value of $243,323.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This represents a 2.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.80.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.20. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $591.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $551.33.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after buying an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $595,152,000. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,662,000 after acquiring an additional 890,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.