Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 0.4% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded down 0.4% during trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $635.10 and last traded at $637.69. 1,818,414 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 14,476,724 shares. The stock had previously closed at $640.43.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $1,724,226.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,437 shares in the company, valued at $3,584,940.32. The trade was a 32.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 70,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $572.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $607.81. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Acorns Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Acorns Advisers LLC now owns 2,627 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Blue Rock Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $506,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 7.9% during the first quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,917 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,292,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in Meta Platforms by 4.8% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 497,294 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $286,353,000 after buying an additional 22,586 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Impact Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $15,646,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.