Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Jennifer Newstead Sells 519 Shares

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $635.41, for a total transaction of $329,777.79. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,202,725.61. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

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

• On Tuesday, May 20th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.50, for a total transaction of $329,824.50.
• 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 shares were 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 shares were 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 transaction of $453,012.27.
• On Tuesday, April 15th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.22, for a total transaction 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 transaction of $500,462.19.
• On Tuesday, April 1st, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total transaction of $525,577.86.
• On Tuesday, March 25th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock traded down $2.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $642.23. The company had a trading volume of 16,230,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,491,179. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $578.25 and a 200 day moving average of $610.43. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $701.05.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nova Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 357.1% in the first quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 160 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 283,481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $163,479,000 after buying an additional 78,963 shares during the period. Anson Funds Management LP acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $1,153,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 73.7% during the 1st quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 36,576 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $21,095,000 after buying an additional 15,519 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $571,086,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.