Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg Sells 12,975 Shares

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total value of $8,023,999.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 420,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $259,869,360.30. This trade represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

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

• 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 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 shares were 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 shares were sold at an average price of $604.46, for a total transaction 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 transaction 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 transaction of $22,746,973.25.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded down $7.17 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $610.72. 10,067,187 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,162,989. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $355.36 and a 52 week high of $638.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $591.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $551.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on META shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $670.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.80.

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.