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

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.54, for a total value of $547,108.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,804,216.70. This trade represents a 2.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

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

• On Tuesday, January 7th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.55, for a total value of $571,552.75.
• On Tuesday, December 31st, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80.
• 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 shares were sold at an average price of $626.66, for a total transaction of $567,127.30.
• On Tuesday, December 10th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00.
• On Tuesday, December 3rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were 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 value 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 value 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 value 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 transaction of $520,103.50.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $612.77 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $596.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $556.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.86, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $370.95 and a one year high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after buying an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,266,531,000 after buying an additional 263,063 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in 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 increased its holdings in 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 valued at $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the second 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. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $650.05.

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.