Mark Zuckerberg Sells 19,668 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $703.21, for a total transaction of $13,830,734.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Friday, February 14th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $734.49, for a total transaction of $14,445,949.32.
• 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 transaction of $25,622,776.90.
• On Wednesday, February 12th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.69, for a total transaction of $14,194,198.92.
• On Friday, February 7th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08.
• On Monday, February 3rd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $696.23, for a total transaction of $9,033,584.25.
• On Wednesday, February 5th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 stock was 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 stock was sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total transaction of $23,160,423.96.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.3 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $694.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.05, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $645.83 and its 200-day moving average is $589.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Benchmark raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 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 given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.90.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $866,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.