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 that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total value of $24,195,307.97. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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

• 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 value of $14,508,376.88.
• 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 value 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 transaction 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.
• 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 value 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 stock was 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 value of $21,951,323.10.
• On Friday, January 3rd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total transaction of $21,695,565.58.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META traded up $2.16 on Wednesday, hitting $676.49. The stock had a trading volume of 20,552,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,885,814. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $606.30 and a 200-day moving average of $562.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $387.10 and a 52-week high of $682.58.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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 return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $700.00 price target (up from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $655.41.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.