Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 3.8% on Insider Selling

Key Points

• Meta Platforms' shares dropped 3.8% after an insider, Jennifer Newstead, sold shares at an average price of $716.98, leading to a decrease in her position by 1.74%.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Meta Platforms, with UBS Group setting a target of $900.00 and Citizens JMP also raising their target to $900.00, indicating a strong outlook for the stock.
• Meta Platforms reported a net margin of 39.99% and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, reflecting its strong financial performance.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) shares were down 3.8% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $704.51 and last traded at $705.30. Approximately 16,366,277 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 12% from the average daily volume of 14,598,287 shares. The stock had previously closed at $733.51.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.98, for a total value of $372,112.62. Following the sale, the insider owned 29,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,016,834.74. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $704.81, for a total transaction of $364,386.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,702,038.29. The trade was a 5.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $897.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Citizens Jmp increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Meta Platforms from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $830.68.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $753.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $678.22. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.54, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 40,691 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,453,000 after acquiring an additional 5,829 shares during the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 32.7% during the 1st quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,120 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $646,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,276 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,312,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.

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