Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells $8,916,696.74 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.87, for a total transaction of $8,916,696.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 151,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,104,462.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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

• On Monday, July 8th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.75, for a total transaction of $8,864,586.50.
• On Friday, July 5th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,727 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.87, for a total transaction of $4,615,448.49.
• On Monday, July 1st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.08, for a total transaction of $8,402,442.16.
• On Wednesday, July 3rd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $509.10, for a total transaction of $8,502,988.20.
• On Friday, June 28th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.96, for a total transaction of $8,600,861.92.
• On Monday, June 24th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total transaction of $4,908,011.20.
• On Wednesday, June 26th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total transaction of $8,532,717.76.
• On Friday, June 21st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.05, for a total transaction of $1,029,156.70.
• On Friday, June 14th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.34, for a total transaction of $8,406,784.68.
• On Tuesday, June 11th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.18, for a total transaction of $8,404,112.36.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.9 %

META traded up $4.69 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $534.69. 10,963,241 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,177,415. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $542.81. The company has a market cap of $1.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $490.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $464.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $593.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $515.64.

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.