Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells 519 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.50, for a total value of $329,824.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,535,270. The trade was a 1.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Jennifer Newstead also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.72, for a total transaction of $330,457.68.
• On Tuesday, May 13th, Jennifer Newstead sold 907 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $645.77, for a total transaction of $585,713.39.
• On Tuesday, May 6th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.52, for a total transaction of $545,710.92.
• On Tuesday, April 29th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total transaction of $502,101.57.
• On Tuesday, April 22nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total value of $453,012.27.
• On Tuesday, April 15th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $531.22, for a total value of $489,253.62.
• On Tuesday, April 8th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total value of $500,462.19.
• On Tuesday, April 1st, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total value of $525,577.86.
• On Tuesday, March 25th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total value of $577,513.05.
• On Tuesday, March 18th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total transaction of $552,830.25.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.2%

META stock traded up $1.07 during trading on Thursday, reaching $636.57. 8,206,187 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,480,338. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $573.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $608.00. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Mattson Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 11,663 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,722,000 after acquiring an additional 902 shares during the period. BOS Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. BOS Asset Management LLC now owns 2,699 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,556,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. WBI Investments LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 297.3% in the first quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 2,177 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% during the first quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 9,594 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,530,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBL Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the first quarter. MBL Wealth LLC now owns 7,586 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,372,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $701.05.

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.

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