Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells $241,534.79 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $584.83, for a total transaction of $241,534.79. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,533 shares in the company, valued at $6,744,844.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

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

• On Friday, October 4th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $583.73, for a total transaction of $241,080.49.
• On Friday, September 27th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total value of $235,410.00.
• On Friday, September 20th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $231,280.00.
• On Friday, September 13th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $520.57, for a total value of $214,995.41.
• On Friday, September 6th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $215,586.00.
• On Friday, August 30th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.35, for a total transaction of $215,317.55.
• On Friday, August 23rd, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total transaction of $221,747.96.
• On Thursday, August 15th, Javier Olivan sold 4,900 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,581,124.00.
• On Thursday, August 1st, Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.48, for a total value of $214,849.76.
• On Thursday, July 25th, Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $190,756.00.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $576.93 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $279.40 and a one year high of $602.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $545.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $508.09.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,620 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $595,152,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $515,383,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after buying an additional 831,047 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Pivotal Research started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $780.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $617.37.

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.