Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells $382,176.03 in Stock

Key Points

• Meta Platforms insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company's stock for a total of $382,176.03, reducing her ownership stake by 1.80% to approximately $20.8 million.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525, representing an annualized yield of 0.3% and a payout ratio of 7.60%.
• Meta's stock saw a slight increase of 0.1% to $734.00, with analysts maintaining a positive outlook and an average price target of $829.66 for the shares.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.37, for a total transaction of $382,176.03. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 28,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,820,861.75. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

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

• On Tuesday, October 14th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $707.85, for a total transaction of $367,374.15.
• On Tuesday, October 7th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.98, for a total value of $372,112.62.
• On Tuesday, September 30th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $741.50, for a total value of $384,838.50.
• On Tuesday, September 23rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $769.20, for a total value of $399,214.80.
• On Tuesday, September 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $767.16, for a total transaction of $398,156.04.
• On Tuesday, September 9th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $757.50, for a total transaction of $393,142.50.
• On Tuesday, September 2nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $726.25, for a total transaction 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 value 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 value of $399,835.70.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.1%

META stock traded up $0.59 on Thursday, hitting $734.00. 9,834,984 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,371,715. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $744.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $687.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%.The firm's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $829.66.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $142,149,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532,568 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after purchasing an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,575,209 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $37,902,948,000 after purchasing an additional 682,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $23,155,393,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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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