Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Jennifer Newstead Sells 921 Shares

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total transaction of $453,012.27. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,525,441.26. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, April 15th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $531.22, for a total transaction of $489,253.62.
• On Tuesday, April 8th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total transaction of $500,462.19.
• On Tuesday, April 1st, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total value of $525,577.86.
• On Tuesday, March 25th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05.
• On Tuesday, March 18th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total value of $552,830.25.
• On Tuesday, March 11th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $547,995.00.
• On Tuesday, March 4th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.00, for a total value of $593,124.00.
• On Tuesday, February 25th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $665.75, for a total transaction of $613,155.75.
• On Tuesday, February 18th, Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total transaction of $677,920.47.
• On Tuesday, February 11th, Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total value of $643,414.64.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.5 %

META stock traded up $12.88 on Thursday, reaching $533.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,724,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,710,756. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $594.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $605.11. The firm has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after buying an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $685.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $676.55.

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.

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