Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells $22,515,282.80 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total value of $22,515,282.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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

• On Friday, January 17th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.85, for a total value of $22,050,105.85.
• 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 value of $21,721,069.49.
• On Wednesday, January 15th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $616.16, for a total value of $22,133,083.36.
• On Friday, January 10th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total value of $7,984,944.75.
• On Monday, January 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total value of $8,023,999.50.
• On Wednesday, January 8th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total value of $21,951,323.10.
• On Friday, January 3rd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total value of $21,695,565.58.
• On Friday, December 27th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,311 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.21, for a total value of $1,387,085.31.
• On Tuesday, December 24th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.46, for a total value of $21,712,807.66.
• On Friday, December 20th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 10,100 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $601.54, for a total value of $6,075,554.00.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of META stock opened at $623.50 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $382.08 and a 52-week high of $638.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.37, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $598.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $558.76.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 27,272 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,089 shares during the last quarter. Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC now owns 6,391 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 4,580 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,310,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Circle Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 41.1% in the 2nd quarter. Circle Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,603 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,363,000 after acquiring an additional 4,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holderness Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 5,265 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,655,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $652.98.

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.