Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 0.4% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price traded down 0.4% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $575.84 and last traded at $579.90. 3,480,351 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 15,080,047 shares. The stock had previously closed at $582.01.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,456,828. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total transaction of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at $19,641,281.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $647.00 to $652.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $619.20.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.41, a PEG 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. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $548.79 and its 200-day moving average is $509.61.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given 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 is presently 11.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $595,152,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after purchasing an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.