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

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $702.24, for a total value of $635,527.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 28,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,936,593.60. This represents a 3.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

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

• On Tuesday, January 28th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $666.00, for a total value of $602,730.00.
• On Tuesday, January 21st, 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, January 14th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 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 value of $535,542.80.
• On Tuesday, December 24th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were 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 shares were 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 shares were 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 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 shares were sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total value of $511,596.50.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $714.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $627.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $573.70. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $725.01.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results 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 last year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.94 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LGL Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. LGL Partners LLC now owns 2,834 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,659,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $710.83.

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.