Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells 16,702 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $513.09, for a total transaction of $8,569,629.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 98,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,618,380.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

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

• On Wednesday, August 7th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 6,534 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total transaction of $3,299,931.36.
• On Friday, August 2nd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50.
• On Tuesday, July 16th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,712 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.27, for a total value of $859,886.24.
• On Friday, July 12th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 14,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.38, for a total value of $7,487,274.12.
• On Monday, July 8th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.75, for a total value of $8,864,586.50.
• On Wednesday, July 10th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.87, for a total transaction of $8,916,696.74.
• On Friday, July 5th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,727 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.87, for a total transaction of $4,615,448.49.
• On Monday, July 1st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.08, for a total value of $8,402,442.16.
• On Wednesday, July 3rd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $509.10, for a total value of $8,502,988.20.
• On Friday, June 28th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.96, for a total value of $8,600,861.92.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of META traded down $1.82 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $515.95. 9,758,071 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,443,930. The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50 day moving average of $497.26 and a 200 day moving average of $484.74. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.38 and a 1-year high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $572.51.

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.