Jennifer Newstead Sells 519 Shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Key Points

• Jennifer Newstead, an insider at Meta Platforms, sold 519 shares of stock at an average price of $726.25, totaling approximately $376,923.75, which resulted in a 1.60% decrease in her ownership.
• Meta Platforms' stock has recently shown strong performance, with shares trading up $11.60 to $748.65, while the company reports significant quarterly earnings of $7.14 EPS exceeding analyst expectations.
• Multiple brokerages have raised their price targets for Meta Platforms, with Morgan Stanley increasing its target from $750.00 to $850.00, indicating a growing bullish sentiment among analysts.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $726.25, for a total transaction of $376,923.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,908 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,173,185. The trade was a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, August 26th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 stock was 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 transaction 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 transaction of $374,494.83.
• 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 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.
• 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.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock traded up $11.60 on Thursday, reaching $748.65. The stock had a trading volume of 11,413,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,269,508. 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 firm's 50-day moving average is $738.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $659.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $30,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.