Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells 905 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total value of $453,015.85. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,944,071.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

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

• On Tuesday, June 25th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total transaction of $449,775.95.
• On Tuesday, June 11th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $452,500.00.
• On Tuesday, June 4th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.00, for a total transaction of $431,685.00.
• On Tuesday, May 28th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.69, for a total value of $431,404.45.
• On Tuesday, May 21st, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.57, for a total value of $423,150.85.
• On Tuesday, May 7th, Jennifer Newstead sold 576 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $268,606.08.
• On Tuesday, April 30th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25.
• On Tuesday, April 23rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25.
• On Tuesday, April 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total transaction of $291,675.15.
• On Tuesday, April 9th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META traded up $0.46 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $509.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,005,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,245,967. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $480.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $458.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,890,950,000 after buying an additional 1,184,978 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,296,383,000 after buying an additional 1,083,719 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.27.

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.