Insider Selling: 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

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 transaction 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 transaction of $21,721,069.49.
• On Wednesday, January 15th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $616.16, for a total transaction 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 shares were 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.
• 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 shares were sold at an average price of $601.54, for a total transaction of $6,075,554.00.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of META opened at $636.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $385.66 and a fifty-two week high of $638.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $600.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $559.30.

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, 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $654.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.