Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 2.4% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares were down 2.4% during mid-day trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $664.34 and last traded at $666.99. Approximately 5,697,974 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 15,439,862 shares. The stock had previously closed at $683.55.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 3,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.10, for a total value of $2,469,975.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $703.21, for a total transaction of $13,830,734.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $648.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $594.06. 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 data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.