Meta Platforms, Inc. Insider Jennifer Newstead Sells 921 Shares

Jennifer Newstead, an insider at Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META), recently sold 921 shares of her company's stock on March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.25, resulting in a total transaction value of $552,830.25. After this sale, Newstead now directly owns 32,103 shares of Meta, which are currently valued at approximately $19,269,825.75. This transaction represents a 2.79% decrease in her ownership stake in the company. The details of this transaction were disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Recent Insider Transactions

In addition to the recent sale, Jennifer Newstead participated in several other transactions involving Meta Platforms stock over the past few months. Notably:

• On March 11th, she sold 921 shares at an average price of $595.00, totaling $547,995.00.
• On March 4th, another sale of 921 shares occurred at an average price of $644.00, which amounted to $593,124.00.
• On February 25th, she sold 921 shares at an average price of $665.75, bringing in $613,155.75.
• On February 18th, she sold 921 shares at an average price of $736.07, yielding $677,920.47.
• On February 11th, she sold 902 shares for an average price of $713.32, making $643,414.64.
• On February 4th, she sold 905 shares at an average price of $702.24, resulting in $635,527.20.
• On January 28th, she sold 905 shares at $666.00, which totaled $602,730.00.
• On January 21st, another sale of 905 shares occurred at $618.00, leading to $559,290.00.
• On January 14th, she sold 905 shares at an average price of $604.54, totaling $547,108.70.
• On January 7th, she sold 905 shares priced at $631.55, for a total of $571,552.75.

Current Market Status of Meta Platforms

As of Thursday, during midday trading, Meta Platforms stock was up by 0.3%, trading at $586.00. In total, 24,283,168 shares exchanged hands, which is significantly higher than the average volume of 13,719,554 shares. The company has a market capitalization of approximately $1.48 trillion. In terms of its stock performance, Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a high of $740.91. Its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio stands at 24.50, with a P/E to growth (P/E/G) ratio of 1.42.

Dividend Update

Recently, Meta Platforms also announced a quarterly dividend that will be paid on March 26th. Shareholders on record as of March 14th will receive a dividend of $0.525, marking an annualized dividend of $2.10 and a yield of 0.36%. This is an increase from the previous quarterly dividend of $0.50, with a payout ratio of 8.78%.

Institutional Investor Activity

Several hedge funds have recently made moves concerning Meta Platforms shares. For example, M1 Capital Management LLC and DSG Capital Advisors LLC both acquired new positions in the fourth quarter, valued at approximately $4,346,000 and $9,968,000 respectively. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP also invested $796,000 in Meta Platforms shares during the same quarter. Institutional investors now hold about 79.91% of the total shares issued by the company.

Analyst Opinions

Brokerages have been active in providing updates on Meta Platforms stock. Recently, JPMorgan raised their target price to $725.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating. Bank of America also updated their target price to $765.00 with a "buy" rating. Scotiabank changed its price objective to $627.00, while Wolfe Research raised theirs to $730.00, rating the stock as "outperform." Currently, the stock holds an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts and has a consensus target price of $718.31.

Overview of Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. specializes in developing products that facilitate connectivity and sharing among individuals through various devices such as mobile phones, personal computers, and virtual reality headsets. The company operates mainly in two segments: Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment includes popular platforms like Facebook and Instagram, which focus on content sharing and messaging.

Meta, Insider, Shares