Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 0.4% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded down 0.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $665.67 and last traded at $671.73. 4,726,860 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 14,015,645 shares. The stock had previously closed at $674.33.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $648.68, for a total transaction of $14,508,376.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 580 shares in the company, valued at $376,234.40. The trade was a 97.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total transaction of $24,195,307.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.59, for a total value of $259,194.67. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,862 shares in the company, valued at $9,954,832.58. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $611.00 and its 200 day moving average is $564.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.34, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 39.74%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.36%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.