Mark Zuckerberg Sells 35,921 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total transaction of $21,951,323.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

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

• 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 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 transaction 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.
• 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 value 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 value of $13,631,512.05.
• On Friday, December 13th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $622.24, for a total value of $22,351,483.04.
• On Monday, December 9th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $614.36, for a total value of $7,971,321.00.
• On Wednesday, December 11th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total value of $22,746,973.25.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.2 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $610.72 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $591.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $551.75. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $355.36 and a 1-year high of $638.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.77, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $670.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% during the third quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.