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 firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

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

• 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 value 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 value of $22,133,083.36.
• On Friday, January 10th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 stock was 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 value 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 value 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 transaction of $22,445,236.85.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded up $3.69 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $616.46. 11,584,932 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,100,104. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a PEG ratio of 1.16 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. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $597.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $557.77. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $381.16 and a 12-month high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $651.27.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 35.1% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 27,272 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,089 shares during the last quarter. Elite Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. Elite Wealth Management Inc. now owns 27,736 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,985,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.5% in the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 99,633 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $50,237,000 after acquiring an additional 40,504 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 165,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $83,250,000 after acquiring an additional 18,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.9% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 265,756 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $133,999,000 after purchasing an additional 14,831 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.