Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 0.1% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price was down 0.1% on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $627.80 and last traded at $639.90. Approximately 3,547,807 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 14,503,823 shares. The stock had previously closed at $640.34.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $572.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $607.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,020 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,939,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Fjell Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $334,000. Finally, Sara Bay Financial lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 28,250 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,703,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.