Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells $486,636.60 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total transaction of $486,636.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,848,320.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, September 10th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total value of $459,405.15.
• On Tuesday, September 3rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total value of $470,600.00.
• On Tuesday, August 27th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.05, for a total transaction of $469,740.25.
• On Tuesday, August 20th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.38, for a total transaction of $478,183.90.
• On Friday, August 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total transaction of $481,650.05.
• On Monday, August 5th, Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15.
• On Tuesday, July 23rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total value of $443,269.00.
• On Tuesday, July 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.42, for a total value of $453,785.10.
• On Tuesday, July 9th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total transaction of $483,224.75.
• On Tuesday, July 2nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total transaction of $453,015.85.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $561.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $564.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $507.58 and a 200-day moving average of $497.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440,229 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management raised its position in Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after buying an additional 3,888,308 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $595,152,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $577.26.

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.