Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells $22,515,282.80 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total value of $22,515,282.80. The sale 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 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 transaction of $22,050,105.85.
• 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 stock was 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 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 shares were sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total value 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.
• 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.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of META opened at $647.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $385.66 and a 12-month high of $652.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $601.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $560.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS 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 business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Equities research analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $654.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,147 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,843,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. WJ Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. WJ Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,814 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Flavin Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,721,000. RBA Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,983 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,260,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,318 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,383,000 after buying an additional 993 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.