Mark Zuckerberg Sells 12,975 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $696.39, for a total value of $9,035,660.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 210,971 shares in the company, valued at $146,918,094.69. This represents a 5.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

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

• On Monday, January 27th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,366 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $648.68, for a total value of $14,508,376.88.
• 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 value of $24,195,307.97.
• On Friday, January 24th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were 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 value 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 value 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 stock was sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total value of $21,951,323.10.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $704.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $618.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $570.21. The stock has a market cap of $1.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $710.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. Mizuho boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $710.83.

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.