Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells 60,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock at an average price of $775.95, totaling approximately $46.56 million, reducing his ownership by 20.19%.
• Meta's stock price decreased by 1.3%, trading at $761.83, while the company reported a quarterly earnings of $7.14 per share, exceeding expectations by $1.39.
• Recent analyst ratings show a consensus price target of $822.41, with most analysts rating the stock as a "buy" or "overweight."

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $10.16 on Thursday, reaching $761.83. 8,992,014 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,465,054. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $784.75. The company has a market capitalization of $1.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $711.99 and a 200 day moving average of $649.96.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. The business's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 28th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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