Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg Sells 22,366 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $648.68, for a total transaction of $14,508,376.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,234.40. This trade represents a 97.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

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

• On Wednesday, January 29th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total value of $24,195,307.97.
• On Friday, January 24th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total value of $23,160,423.96.
• On Wednesday, January 22nd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total value of $22,515,282.80.
• On Friday, January 17th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $613.85, for a total transaction 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 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 Friday, January 10th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were 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 shares were 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 shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total transaction of $21,695,565.58.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $676.49 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $608.52 and a 200-day moving average of $563.58. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $387.10 and a one year high of $682.58. The stock has a market cap of $1.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after buying an additional 4,126,190 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $625,125,000 after buying an additional 1,066,437 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,662,000 after buying an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $655.41.

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.