Jennifer Newstead Sells 905 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total value of $523,587.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,308,262.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, September 17th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total transaction of $486,636.60.
• On Tuesday, September 10th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15.
• On Tuesday, September 3rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total transaction of $470,600.00.
• On Tuesday, August 27th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.05, for a total value of $469,740.25.
• On Tuesday, August 20th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.38, for a total value of $478,183.90.
• On Friday, August 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total value of $481,650.05.
• On Monday, August 5th, Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15.
• On Tuesday, July 23rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total transaction of $443,269.00.
• On Tuesday, July 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.42, for a total transaction of $453,785.10.
• On Tuesday, July 9th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total transaction of $483,224.75.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $595.94 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $524.47 and a 200-day moving average of $501.92. The company has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $596.85.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 108,493 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $38,402,000 after acquiring an additional 3,033 shares during the last quarter. Aristides Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 7,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,478,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,505 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,303,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 63,290 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $22,402,000 after buying an additional 12,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baldwin Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 1,425 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $780.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $598.08.

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.