Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells $8,402,442.16 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.08, for a total transaction of $8,402,442.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 204,280 shares in the company, valued at $102,769,182.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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

• On Wednesday, July 3rd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $509.10, for a total transaction of $8,502,988.20.
• On Friday, June 28th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.96, for a total transaction of $8,600,861.92.
• On Monday, June 24th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total transaction of $4,908,011.20.
• On Wednesday, June 26th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total transaction of $8,532,717.76.
• On Friday, June 21st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.05, for a total transaction of $1,029,156.70.
• On Friday, June 14th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.34, for a total transaction of $8,406,784.68.
• On Tuesday, June 11th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.18, for a total transaction of $8,404,112.36.
• On Thursday, June 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of META stock traded up $0.46 on Wednesday, hitting $509.96. 6,005,613 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,245,967. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $531.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $481.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $458.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $295,901,000 after acquiring an additional 163,067 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,265,862,000 after buying an additional 51,900 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,955,000 after buying an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.27.

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.