Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells $449,775.95 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total value of $449,775.95. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,258,362.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Jennifer Newstead also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, June 11th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $452,500.00.
• On Tuesday, June 4th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.00, for a total value of $431,685.00.
• On Tuesday, May 28th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.69, for a total transaction of $431,404.45.
• On Tuesday, May 21st, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.57, for a total transaction of $423,150.85.
• On Tuesday, May 7th, Jennifer Newstead sold 576 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $268,606.08.
• On Tuesday, April 30th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25.
• On Tuesday, April 23rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25.
• On Tuesday, April 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15.
• On Tuesday, April 9th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00.
• On Tuesday, April 2nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $485.00, for a total transaction of $283,725.00.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.0 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $504.22 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.38 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $480.00 and its 200-day moving average is $454.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The company has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.05.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after purchasing an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after buying an additional 244,803 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,890,950,000 after buying an additional 1,184,978 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,296,383,000 after buying an additional 1,083,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.