Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells 585 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

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

• On Tuesday, April 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total transaction of $291,675.15.
• On Tuesday, April 9th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00.
• On Tuesday, April 2nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $485.00, for a total transaction of $283,725.00.
• On Tuesday, March 26th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total transaction of $295,594.65.
• On Tuesday, March 19th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.50, for a total transaction of $285,772.50.
• On Tuesday, March 12th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.75, for a total transaction of $288,843.75.
• On Tuesday, March 5th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $495.00, for a total transaction of $289,575.00.
• On Tuesday, February 27th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.00, for a total transaction of $280,800.00.
• On Tuesday, February 20th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.88, for a total transaction of $274,879.80.
• On Tuesday, February 6th, Jennifer Newstead sold 552 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.00, for a total transaction of $256,128.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 10.6 %

Shares of META traded down $52.12 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $441.38. 82,642,094 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,210,709. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $495.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $403.14. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.88 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The company has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.62, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.18.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 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.