Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 0.3% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) fell 0.3% on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $511.80 and last traded at $516.10. 2,922,513 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 16,399,639 shares. The stock had previously closed at $517.77.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total transaction of $194,752.40. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,268,235.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 315,770 shares of company stock worth $157,719,910. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $572.51.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $498.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $485.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. S.A. Mason LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the first quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the second quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, LongView Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $856,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.