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

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price fell 2.6% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $590.74 and last traded at $592.50. 5,251,927 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 11,884,012 shares. The stock had previously closed at $608.33.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total value of $7,984,944.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 381,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,649,678.90. This represents a 3.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.55, for a total transaction of $571,552.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,215,915.50. This trade represents a 2.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total value of $8,023,999.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 420,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $259,869,360.30. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $595.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $554.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 263,063 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,754,450 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,911,029,000 after acquiring an additional 208,677 shares during 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.