Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Insider Jennifer Newstead Sells 905 Shares

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.38, for a total transaction of $478,183.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 40,532 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,416,298.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

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

• On Friday, August 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total value of $481,650.05.
• On Monday, August 5th, Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15.
• On Tuesday, July 23rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total value of $443,269.00.
• On Tuesday, July 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.42, for a total transaction of $453,785.10.
• On Tuesday, July 9th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total transaction of $483,224.75.
• On Tuesday, July 2nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total transaction of $453,015.85.
• On Tuesday, June 25th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total value of $449,775.95.
• On Tuesday, June 11th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $452,500.00.
• On Tuesday, June 4th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.00, for a total value of $431,685.00.
• On Tuesday, May 28th, Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.69, for a total value of $431,404.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $3.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $531.93. The company had a trading volume of 15,697,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,248,199. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.55, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $502.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $490.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $276.03 and a 12 month high of $544.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Management Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,038 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 58.0% in the 4th quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,156,000 after buying an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Hartline Investment Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Hartline Investment Corp now owns 3,580 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,267,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,876,000. Finally, Carret Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 22,734 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,047,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on META. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Wolfe Research started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $620.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Loop Capital raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $574.41.

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.