Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells $7,984,944.75 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total transaction of $7,984,944.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 381,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $234,649,678.90. The trade was a 3.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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

• On Monday, January 13th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.69, for a total transaction of $21,721,069.49.
• On Wednesday, January 15th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $616.16, for a total transaction of $22,133,083.36.
• On Monday, January 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total transaction of $8,023,999.50.
• On Wednesday, January 8th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total transaction of $21,951,323.10.
• On Friday, January 3rd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total transaction of $21,695,565.58.
• On Friday, December 27th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,311 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.21, for a total transaction of $1,387,085.31.
• On Tuesday, December 24th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.46, for a total transaction of $21,712,807.66.
• On Friday, December 20th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 10,100 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $601.54, for a total transaction of $6,075,554.00.
• On Monday, December 16th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $624.85, for a total transaction of $22,445,236.85.
• On Wednesday, December 18th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,035 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.63, for a total transaction of $13,631,512.05.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.8 %

META opened at $617.12 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $595.02 and its 200-day moving average is $554.81. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $358.61 and a 1-year high of $638.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.07, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.