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

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) dropped 0% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $527.27 and last traded at $528.48. Approximately 2,956,633 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 16,340,318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $528.54.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.89, for a total value of $8,599,692.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 89,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,302,513.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.51, for a total transaction of $8,827,174.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 72,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,302,705.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $513.09, for a total value of $8,569,629.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,618,380.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $574.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $499.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $486.33. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.39, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.