Jennifer Newstead Sells 576 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $268,606.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,819,124.11. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

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

• On Tuesday, April 30th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25.
• On Tuesday, April 23rd, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25.
• On Tuesday, April 16th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15.
• On Tuesday, April 9th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00.
• On Tuesday, April 2nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $485.00, for a total transaction of $283,725.00.
• On Tuesday, March 26th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total transaction of $295,594.65.
• On Tuesday, March 19th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.50, for a total value of $285,772.50.
• On Tuesday, March 12th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.75, for a total value of $288,843.75.
• On Tuesday, March 5th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $495.00, for a total value of $289,575.00.
• On Tuesday, February 27th, Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.00, for a total transaction of $280,800.00.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $2.82 during trading on Thursday, reaching $475.42. 9,422,173 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,126,488. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.72 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $489.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $412.20. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after acquiring an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Stockton boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Signify Wealth purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $79,212,000 after buying an additional 4,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,880,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.80.

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.