Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 0.5% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares were down 0.5% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $432.28 and last traded at $436.79. Approximately 5,733,704 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 18,295,748 shares. The stock had previously closed at $439.19.

Specifically, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,157,645.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 552 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.00, for a total transaction of $256,128.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,853,952. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,257,876 shares of company stock valued at $613,168,252. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.80.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $491.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $407.43.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 52,920 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $25,697,000 after buying an additional 1,239 shares in the last quarter. Embree Financial Group lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the first quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 1,490 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. CV Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $242,000. Clarity Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. Clarity Capital Partners LLC now owns 976 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 108.1% in the 1st quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 8,975 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,358,000 after purchasing an additional 4,662 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.