Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) fell 4.3% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $625.97 and last traded at $626.93. 7,612,104 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 13,597,387 shares. The stock had previously closed at $655.05.

Specifically, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at $209,199,589.06. This represents a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $665.75, for a total value of $613,155.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,212,039.50. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $686.28, for a total value of $417,258.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,361,815.60. This trade represents a 6.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 target price (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

View Our Latest Research Report on Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $654.92 and a 200-day moving average of $598.70. The firm has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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