Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 7.8% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price dropped 7.8% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $535.00 and last traded at $538.20. Approximately 13,780,166 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 4% from the average daily volume of 14,292,756 shares. The stock had previously closed at $583.93.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total transaction of $342,322.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,507,676.90. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 7.2 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $653.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $610.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. 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.