Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells $8,600,861.92 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.96, for a total transaction of $8,600,861.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 213,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $109,690,084.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Monday, July 1st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.08, for a total transaction 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 transaction of $8,502,988.20.
• On Monday, June 24th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total transaction of $4,908,011.20.
• On Wednesday, June 26th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total transaction of $8,532,717.76.
• On Friday, June 21st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.05, for a total transaction of $1,029,156.70.
• On Friday, June 14th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.34, for a total transaction of $8,406,784.68.
• On Tuesday, June 11th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.18, for a total transaction of $8,404,112.36.
• On Thursday, June 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $509.96 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a fifty day moving average of $481.05 and a 200 day moving average of $458.42. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.38 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.27.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,314,722 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,496,450,000 after purchasing an additional 592,085 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 69.9% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 26,817 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,051,000 after purchasing an additional 11,033 shares during the last quarter. Alerus Financial NA lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 503.5% during the third quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 22,920 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,881,000 after purchasing an additional 19,122 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 2,211,935 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $664,045,000 after purchasing an additional 6,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 28,577 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,579,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.