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

Key Points

• Jennifer Newstead, an insider at Meta Platforms, sold 519 shares of stock on September 9th for a total value of $393,142.50, resulting in a 1.63% decrease in her ownership of the company.
• The company's shares traded down $1.08 on the day of reporting, reaching $750.90, with a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion.
• Meta Platforms recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, to be paid on September 29th, with an annualized yield of 0.3%.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $757.50, for a total value of $393,142.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 31,389 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,777,167.50. This represents a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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

• On Tuesday, September 2nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $726.25, for a total value of $376,923.75.
• On Tuesday, August 26th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.47, for a total transaction of $389,493.93.
• On Monday, August 18th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $402,225.00.
• On Tuesday, August 5th, Jennifer Newstead sold 515 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $776.38, for a total transaction of $399,835.70.
• On Tuesday, July 29th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $719.86, for a total transaction of $373,607.34.
• On Tuesday, July 22nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.10, for a total transaction of $371,655.90.
• On Tuesday, July 15th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total value of $375,278.52.
• On Tuesday, July 8th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.57, for a total value of $374,494.83.
• On Tuesday, July 1st, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $737.00, for a total transaction of $382,503.00.
• 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 transaction of $365,837.91.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $1.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $750.90. 7,907,898 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,785,693. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $740.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $660.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. The business's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $980.00 price objective (up from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $142,149,566,000 after buying an additional 1,532,568 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,119,937,000 after acquiring an additional 59,766,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,575,209 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $37,902,948,000 after acquiring an additional 682,768 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $23,155,393,000. 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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