Insider Selling: Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells $372,112.62 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.98, for a total value of $372,112.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 29,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,016,834.74. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, September 30th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $741.50, for a total value of $384,838.50.
• On Tuesday, September 23rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $769.20, for a total value of $399,214.80.
• On Tuesday, September 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $767.16, for a total value of $398,156.04.
• On Tuesday, September 9th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $757.50, for a total value of $393,142.50.
• On Tuesday, September 2nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $726.25, for a total value of $376,923.75.
• On Tuesday, August 26th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.47, for a total value of $389,493.93.
• On Monday, August 18th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $402,225.00.
• On Tuesday, August 5th, Jennifer Newstead sold 515 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $776.38, for a total value of $399,835.70.
• On Tuesday, July 29th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $719.86, for a total value of $373,607.34.
• On Tuesday, July 22nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.10, for a total value of $371,655.90.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.8%

META stock opened at $705.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.54, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a fifty day moving average of $752.20 and a 200-day moving average of $679.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Jmp boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $980.00 price objective (up from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $830.68.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $30,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by 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.