Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg Sells 492 Shares

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at $311,493,681. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Mark Zuckerberg also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, August 30th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 4,909 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.17, for a total transaction of $2,548,605.53.
• On Monday, August 26th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $520.48, for a total transaction of $8,693,056.96.
• On Wednesday, August 28th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.36, for a total transaction of $4,117,971.00.
• On Friday, August 23rd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $531.46, for a total transaction of $8,876,444.92.
• On Monday, August 19th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.94, for a total transaction of $8,800,951.88.
• On Wednesday, August 21st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.24, for a total transaction of $8,906,174.48.
• On Friday, August 16th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.09, for a total transaction of $8,836,861.18.
• On Monday, August 12th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.89, for a total transaction of $8,599,692.78.
• On Wednesday, August 14th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.51, for a total transaction of $8,827,174.02.
• On Friday, August 9th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $513.09, for a total transaction of $8,569,629.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.0 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $589.95 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $538.12 and its 200-day moving average is $505.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The company has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.11, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $609.71.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.