Mark Zuckerberg Sells 22,366 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $648.68, for a total transaction of $14,508,376.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,234.40. The trade was a 97.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

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

• On Wednesday, January 29th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were 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 value of $23,160,423.96.
• On Wednesday, January 22nd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were 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.
• 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 stock was 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 stock was 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.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $689.18 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $613.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $565.78. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $387.10 and a 12 month high of $710.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (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 39.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $706.76.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 42,603 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,944,000 after acquiring an additional 3,615 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,259 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,908,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 17,452 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,218,000 after buying an additional 4,008 shares in the last quarter. Allied Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Allied Investment Advisors LLC now owns 489 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $1,301,000. 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.