Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells 22,366 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,366 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $648.68, for a total value of $14,508,376.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 580 shares in the company, valued at $376,234.40. The trade was a 97.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Wednesday, January 29th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total transaction of $24,195,307.97.
• On Friday, January 24th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total transaction of $23,160,423.96.
• On Wednesday, January 22nd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total transaction of $22,515,282.80.
• On Friday, January 17th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $613.85, for a total transaction of $22,050,105.85.
• On Monday, January 13th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.69, for a total transaction 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 value 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 value 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 transaction of $21,695,565.58.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $687.00 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $611.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $564.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. 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 fifty-two week low of $387.10 and a fifty-two week high of $710.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $706.76.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Opes Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,155 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,235 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,822,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 3,703 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,168,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,167 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copperleaf Capital LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Copperleaf Capital LLC now owns 4,406 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,580,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.