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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 2.6% Following Insider Selling

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Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) traded down 2.6% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $608.23 and last traded at $613.61. 4,546,834 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 10,568,646 shares. The stock had previously closed at $630.20.

Specifically, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total transaction of $21,695,565.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total value of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Pivotal Research upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $645.80.

Get Our Latest Report on META

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.10, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.19. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $590.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $550.47.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 9.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Range Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 215.6% during the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 4,649 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,722,000 after purchasing an additional 3,176 shares during the last quarter. One Wealth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $1,672,000. Norway Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 3,826 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $94,000. Finally, Bath Savings Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 488 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

About Meta Platforms

(Get Free Report)

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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