Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 0.6% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 0.6% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $591.71 and last traded at $594.27. Approximately 3,878,059 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 14,406,961 shares. The stock had previously closed at $598.01.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was 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 owns 25,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,201,693.12. This trade represents a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.00, for a total value of $359,936.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 3,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,888,480. This represents a 16.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Bank of America increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $569.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $604.14. 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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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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