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 after an insider sold shares in the company. 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 trading hands.

Specifically, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,574,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 10.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $495.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $403.40. The company has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.62, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.