Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1.2% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) fell 1.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $582.22 and last traded at $585.80. 3,935,662 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 15,407,109 shares. The stock had previously closed at $592.89.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at $311,493,681. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $583.73, for a total value of $241,080.49. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,973,238.58. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total value of $523,587.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 35,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,308,262.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $608.58.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $536.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $504.92. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued 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 currently 11.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.