Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells $559,290.00 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $559,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,663,600. This represents a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

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

• On Tuesday, January 14th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.54, for a total value of $547,108.70.
• On Tuesday, January 7th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were 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 value 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 value of $545,235.35.
• On Tuesday, December 17th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.66, for a total value 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 value of $559,290.00.
• On Tuesday, December 3rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 stock was sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total value of $524,990.50.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $647.49 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $601.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $560.33. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $385.66 and a one year high of $652.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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 return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $654.20.

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.