Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 0.2% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price traded down 0.2% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $498.01 and last traded at $501.48. 14,540,656 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 2% from the average session volume of 14,827,047 shares. The stock had previously closed at $502.31.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.22, for a total value of $489,253.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 28,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,096,741.18. The trade was a 3.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.45, for a total value of $338,321.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,014 shares in the company, valued at $2,790,040.30. This trade represents a 10.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on META. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $684.10.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2 %

The company’s 50-day moving average is $608.14 and its 200 day moving average is $607.04. The company has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.