Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells 35,921 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total transaction of $23,160,423.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

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

• 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 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 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 transaction of $21,712,807.66.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $674.33 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $387.10 and a 1 year high of $682.58. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $606.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $562.78. The stock has a market cap of $1.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,350,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. RAM Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,465,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,468,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 39.8% in the 4th quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,855 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMC Financial Services LTD increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 9,800 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,738,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $654.20.

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.