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 Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.57, for a total value of $374,494.83. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,107 shares in the company, valued at $19,559,597.99. This represents a 1.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, July 1st, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $737.00, for a total value 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 value of $365,837.91.
• On Tuesday, June 17th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.99, for a total value 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 value 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 value of $348,249.00.
• On Tuesday, May 27th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $635.41, for a total value 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 stock was 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 value 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.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:META traded down $9.73 on Friday, reaching $717.51. The stock had a trading volume of 10,855,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,480,953. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $674.77 and a 200 day moving average of $634.17. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $747.90.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Barclays cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Benchmark cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $729.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westfuller Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 117.9% in the 2nd quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC now owns 985 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $727,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 46,944 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,649,000 after purchasing an additional 847 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 130,770 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $96,520,000 after purchasing an additional 13,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 11,167 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $8,242,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. 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.