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 Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $737.00, for a total value of $382,503.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,626 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,360,362. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, June 24th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $704.89, for a total value of $365,837.91.
• On Tuesday, June 17th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.99, for a total transaction of $364,332.81.
• On Tuesday, June 10th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.00, for a total transaction of $363,819.00.
• On Tuesday, June 3rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $671.00, for a total transaction of $348,249.00.
• On Tuesday, May 27th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.41, for a total transaction of $329,777.79.
• On Tuesday, May 20th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $635.50, for a total value 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 value 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 stock was sold at an average price of $592.52, for a total value 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 value of $502,101.57.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded up $3.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $716.91. 8,601,653 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,572,054. The company has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $747.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $651.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $628.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.29.

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.

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