Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 1.4% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 1.4% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $709.70 and last traded at $716.90. 4,606,704 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 14,465,690 shares. The stock had previously closed at $727.24.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $721.57, for a total transaction of $374,494.83. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,559,597.99. The trade was a 1.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.51, for a total value of $370,952.67. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,263,653.36. The trade was a 6.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $729.38.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $674.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $634.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm 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 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Valley Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the second quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.