Insider Selling: Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) CTO Sells $3,085,695.98 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $3,085,695.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 6,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,227,214.56. The trade was a 42.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Andrew Bosworth also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, November 18th, Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $589.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $700.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $704.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.28%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $30,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $825.05.

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.