Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 1.3% After Insider Selling

by · The Markets Daily

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report)’s stock price fell 1.3% on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $602.79 and last traded at $609.66. 3,399,304 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 10,762,179 shares. The stock had previously closed at $617.89.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total transaction of $8,023,999.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 420,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $259,869,360.30. The trade was a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total value of $21,951,323.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total value of $252,797.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,467,522.10. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on META. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four 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, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $646.90.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on META

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $593.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $552.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

(Get Free Report)

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.

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