Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells $39,897,337.08 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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

• On Monday, February 10th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,795 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $715.82, for a total value of $25,622,776.90.
• On Wednesday, February 12th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $721.69, for a total value of $14,194,198.92.
• On Monday, February 3rd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $696.23, for a total value of $9,033,584.25.
• On Wednesday, February 5th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $706.72, for a total transaction of $9,169,692.00.
• On Friday, January 31st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $696.39, for a total transaction of $9,035,660.25.
• On Monday, January 27th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,366 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $648.68, for a total transaction of $14,508,376.88.
• 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 shares were 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 stock was sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total value of $22,515,282.80.
• On Friday, January 17th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.85, for a total value of $22,050,105.85.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of META opened at $725.38 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $727.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $634.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $579.77.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after buying an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,266,531,000 after buying an additional 263,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,251,766 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,344,552,000 after acquiring an additional 424,201 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $717.90.

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.