Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells $545,710.92 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.52, for a total value of $545,710.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,201,693.12. This represents a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

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

• On Tuesday, April 29th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total transaction of $502,101.57.
• On Tuesday, April 22nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total transaction of $453,012.27.
• On Tuesday, April 15th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.22, for a total transaction of $489,253.62.
• On Tuesday, April 8th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total transaction of $500,462.19.
• On Tuesday, April 1st, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total transaction of $525,577.86.
• On Tuesday, March 25th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05.
• On Tuesday, March 18th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total value of $552,830.25.
• On Tuesday, March 11th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $547,995.00.
• On Tuesday, March 4th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.00, for a total value of $593,124.00.
• On Tuesday, February 25th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $665.75, for a total transaction of $613,155.75.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded down $5.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $592.49. The stock had a trading volume of 10,401,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,465,666. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $568.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $604.50. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after buying an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $696.45.

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.