Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 1.1% Following Insider Selling

Key Points

• Meta Platforms' shares fell 1.1% after its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, sold 15,847 shares for over $11.9 million on August 1st.
• Analysts have recently increased their price targets for Meta, with UBS and Loop Capital setting targets of $897 and $888, respectively, while most analysts rate the stock as a "Moderate Buy."
• Meta reported strong quarterly earnings on July 30th, with an EPS of $7.14 beating estimates by $1.39 and a revenue of $47.52 billion, up 21.6% year-over-year.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) fell 1.1% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $767.01 and last traded at $767.88. 4,154,331 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 15,573,718 shares. The stock had previously closed at $776.37.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $719.86, for a total transaction of $373,607.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,392,423. This represents a 1.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $715.00, for a total value of $369,655.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 5,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,136,275. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $707.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $648.07. The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict 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 Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 (DPR) is 7.60%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Skye Global Management LP raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the fourth quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,616,000 after purchasing an additional 43,200 shares during the period. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $284,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.