Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 0% After Insider Selling

by · The Markets Daily

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) traded down 0% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $573.36 and last traded at $585.81. 3,439,866 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 14,238,185 shares. The stock had previously closed at $586.00.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total transaction of $342,322.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,230 shares in the company, valued at $3,507,676.90. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 31,182 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,673.10. This represents a 2.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating 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 issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.55.

Get Our Latest Research Report on META

Meta Platforms Stock Down 9.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $651.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $609.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (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 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,743,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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