Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 0.7% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares dropped 0.7% during trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $694.21 and last traded at $698.78. Approximately 4,467,588 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 15,492,209 shares. The stock had previously closed at $703.77.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $703.21, for a total value of $13,830,734.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $644.55 and a 200 day moving average of $588.38. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. 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 buying an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after acquiring an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $866,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. 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.