Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan Sells 608 Shares

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total transaction of $373,901.76. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,205,164.86. This represents a 8.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Javier Olivan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 17th, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total value of $369,360.00.
• On Monday, March 10th, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.00, for a total value of $370,272.00.
• On Monday, March 3rd, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.96, for a total value of $409,767.68.
• On Monday, February 24th, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $686.28, for a total value of $417,258.24.
• On Tuesday, February 18th, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total transaction of $447,530.56.
• On Saturday, February 15th, Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02.
• On Monday, February 3rd, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $676.00, for a total transaction of $279,188.00.
• On Monday, January 27th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.59, for a total transaction of $259,194.67.
• On Tuesday, January 21st, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $255,234.00.
• On Monday, January 13th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $606.77, for a total value of $250,596.01.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $15.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $610.98. The stock had a trading volume of 12,599,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,820,118. The company has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. 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 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $656.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $608.00.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.31.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Avant Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $497,000. Fire Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,235,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,987,000. Prostatis Group LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 2,446 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,666,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.