Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 2% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares were down 2% on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $585.58 and last traded at $587.85. Approximately 2,322,284 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 14,696,330 shares. The stock had previously closed at $599.81.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,311 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.21, for a total value of $1,387,085.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $602.47, for a total value of $545,235.35. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,820 shares in the company, valued at $20,375,535.40. This represents a 2.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.46, for a total value of $21,712,807.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $670.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $638.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $588.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $547.56. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after acquiring an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $235,872,000 after buying an additional 5,594 shares during the period. Finally, M&G PLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 721,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $412,606,000 after buying an additional 91,773 shares in the last quarter. 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.