Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg Sells 13,793 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $710.24, for a total value of $9,796,340.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,533 shares in the company, valued at $40,862,237.92. This trade represents a 19.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

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

• On Friday, June 20th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 500 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $700.38, for a total transaction of $350,190.00.
• On Monday, June 16th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $702.06, for a total transaction of $9,683,513.58.
• On Tuesday, June 17th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,312 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $702.13, for a total transaction of $5,836,104.56.
• On Wednesday, June 18th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,753 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $700.43, for a total transaction of $1,928,283.79.
• On Monday, June 9th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,466 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.25, for a total value of $5,235,532.50.
• On Tuesday, June 10th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09.
• On Wednesday, June 11th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,802 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.96, for a total value of $5,476,691.92.
• On Friday, June 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,462 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $1,025,052.06.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $708.68 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $629.38 and its 200 day moving average is $624.96. The company has a market cap of $1.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on META. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $712.69.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Fjell Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $334,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $112,406,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.