Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Jennifer Newstead Sells 515 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Jennifer Newstead, a Meta Platforms insider, sold 515 shares of the company at an average price of $776.38, totaling nearly $400,000, and now holds 25,035 shares valued at approximately $19.4 million.
• Meta Platforms reported a 1.39 EPS surprise in its last earnings report, posting $7.14 against a consensus estimate of $5.75, and achieved a revenue of $47.52 billion, exceeding expectations of $44.55 billion.
• Recent analysts' upgrades raised Meta's price targets significantly, with some reports placing the target as high as $900, reflecting strong confidence in the stock's performance.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 515 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $776.38, for a total transaction of $399,835.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,436,673.30. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

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

• 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 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 value of $382,503.00.
• On Tuesday, June 24th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 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 shares were sold at an average price of $701.00, for a total transaction of $363,819.00.
• On Tuesday, June 3rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $671.00, for a total transaction of $348,249.00.
• On Tuesday, May 27th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.41, for a total value of $329,777.79.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META traded down $10.16 on Thursday, reaching $761.83. The company had a trading volume of 8,992,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,465,054. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $711.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $649.96. The company has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $784.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. 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 business posted $5.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 25.4% during the second quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,409 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,682,000 after purchasing an additional 2,111 shares during the period. Avalon Capital Management grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Avalon Capital Management now owns 1,670 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,233,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 15,301 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $11,294,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Pembroke Management LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $491,000. Finally, STF Management LP increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the second quarter. STF Management LP now owns 12,525 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $9,245,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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