Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells 4,891 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan sold 4,891 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $2,822,889.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,999,655.88. This represents a 23.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Javier Olivan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 18th, Javier Olivan sold 620 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $345,340.00.
• On Friday, November 1st, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total transaction of $234,410.54.
• On Friday, October 25th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total transaction of $237,128.08.
• On Friday, October 18th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total value of $239,808.45.
• On Friday, October 11th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $584.83, for a total value of $241,534.79.
• On Friday, October 4th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $583.73, for a total value of $241,080.49.
• On Friday, September 27th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total transaction of $235,410.00.
• On Friday, September 20th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $231,280.00.
• On Friday, September 13th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $520.57, for a total transaction of $214,995.41.
• On Friday, September 6th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $215,586.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded up $6.69 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $561.09. The stock had a trading volume of 9,155,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,035,363. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $313.66 and a 1-year high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $569.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $521.96.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,266,531,000 after buying an additional 263,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. 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. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

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.