Insider Selling: Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) CFO Sells 6,875 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Meta Platforms CFO Susan Li sold 6,875 shares of stock on August 15th for a total of $5,377,143.75, reducing her ownership by 7.22% to 88,370 shares.
• Following the sale, Meta's stock price fell to $751.48, representing a 2.1% decrease in value during midday trading on Tuesday.
• Meta reported strong quarterly earnings on July 30th, with $7.14 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and a revenue of $47.52 billion, up 21.6% year-over-year.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) CFO Susan Li sold 6,875 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $782.13, for a total transaction of $5,377,143.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,116,828.10. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $15.89 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $751.48. The company had a trading volume of 12,216,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,316,512. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $726.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $656.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.21, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Jmp upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $23,155,393,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,212,506,000 after purchasing an additional 8,405,558 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,990,544,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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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