Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total transaction of $520,103.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,612,808.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.
Jennifer Newstead also recently made the following trade(s):
Shares of META stock traded up $4.09 on Thursday, reaching $567.78. The company had a trading volume of 7,176,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,096,672. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $279.40 and a one year high of $602.95. The business's 50-day moving average is $549.53 and its 200 day moving average is $509.99.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.
A number of analysts have recently commented on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $619.20.
Get Our Latest Report on META
Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barrett & Company Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 5,658 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,239,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Vanderbilt University grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanderbilt University now owns 10,329 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,913,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 14,411 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,250,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Inscription Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,581,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,310 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,184,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
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.
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
Before you consider Meta Platforms, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Meta Platforms wasn't on the list.
While Meta Platforms currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.