Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Jennifer Newstead Sells 921 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total value of $677,920.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,341,737.09. The trade was a 2.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

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

• On Tuesday, February 11th, Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total value of $643,414.64.
• On Tuesday, February 4th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $702.24, for a total value of $635,527.20.
• On Tuesday, January 28th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $666.00, for a total value of $602,730.00.
• On Tuesday, January 21st, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $559,290.00.
• On Tuesday, January 14th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.54, for a total value of $547,108.70.
• On Tuesday, January 7th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.55, for a total value of $571,552.75.
• On Tuesday, December 31st, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80.
• On Tuesday, December 24th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $602.47, for a total value of $545,235.35.
• On Tuesday, December 17th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.66, for a total value of $567,127.30.
• On Tuesday, December 10th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $559,290.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $703.77 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $644.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $588.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.42, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.5% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $261,680,000 after purchasing an additional 112,047 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the third quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.3% in the third quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,985 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,854,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Veracity Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the third quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 3,394 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,943,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $770.00 price target (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $717.90.

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.