Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 2.6% After Insider Selling

by · The Markets Daily

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) dropped 2.6% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $528.59 and last traded at $532.06. Approximately 6,329,307 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 14,705,042 shares. The stock had previously closed at $546.29.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total transaction of $500,462.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,943,062.60. The trade was a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at $2,744,547.96. This trade represents a 9.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer upped 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. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $701.38.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on META

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $631.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $609.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

(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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