Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells 905 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total transaction of $520,103.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,387 shares in the company, valued at $18,612,808.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, October 15th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total transaction of $533,922.85.
• On Tuesday, October 8th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total transaction of $533,850.45.
• On Tuesday, October 1st, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total transaction of $523,587.75.
• On Tuesday, September 17th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were 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 shares were 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 shares were sold at an average price of $519.05, for a total transaction of $469,740.25.
• On Tuesday, August 20th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.38, for a total transaction of $478,183.90.
• On Friday, August 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total transaction 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 transaction of $406,486.15.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $567.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 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 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $549.53 and its 200-day moving average is $509.99.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $619.20.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Prentice Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the first quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $873,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $8,498,000. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $641,000. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the first quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,247 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $648,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,759,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.