Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 2.4% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price dropped 2.4% during mid-day trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $664.34 and last traded at $666.99. Approximately 5,697,974 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 15,439,862 shares. The stock had previously closed at $683.55.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 3,523 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.10, for a total transaction of $2,469,975.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $703.21, for a total transaction of $13,830,734.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the company’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 $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $648.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $594.06.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.