Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Gap Down on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $493.50, but opened at $421.40. Meta Platforms shares last traded at $443.43, with a volume of 32,298,811 shares traded.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total transaction of $253,697.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,579 shares in the company, valued at $3,924,027.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $495.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $403.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $11,285,855,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,752,900,000 after acquiring an additional 4,908,251 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.