Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells $22,050,105.85 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.85, for a total transaction of $22,050,105.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

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

• On Wednesday, January 22nd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total value of $22,515,282.80.
• 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 shares were sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total transaction of $7,984,944.75.
• On Monday, January 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total transaction 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 transaction 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 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 shares were 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 shares were 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 Platforms stock opened at $623.50 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $598.87 and its 200 day moving average is $558.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $382.08 and a 1 year high of $638.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on META. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $652.98.

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.