Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 0.8% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) fell 0.8% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $469.60 and last traded at $471.61. 3,677,034 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 17,962,736 shares. The stock had previously closed at $475.42.

Specifically, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 7,556 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,576,103.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 77,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,711,856.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,126,899 shares of company stock valued at $552,059,793. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.80.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $489.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $412.64. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.09, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.1 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,647 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,054,513 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,469,906,000 after buying an additional 927,491 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,890,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after buying an additional 1,083,719 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.