Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells 413 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.56, for a total transaction of $260,008.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 18,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,546,130.40. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

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

• On Monday, December 9th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $623.50, for a total transaction of $257,505.50.
• On Monday, December 2nd, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.49, for a total value of $238,503.37.
• On Monday, November 25th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01.
• On Monday, November 18th, Javier Olivan sold 620 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $345,340.00.
• On Friday, November 15th, Javier Olivan sold 4,891 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $2,822,889.56.
• On Friday, November 1st, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total transaction of $234,410.54.
• On Friday, October 25th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total transaction of $237,128.08.
• On Friday, October 18th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45.
• On Friday, October 11th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.83, for a total value of $241,534.79.
• 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 value of $241,080.49.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $585.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $340.01 and a fifty-two week high of $638.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $585.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $541.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $638.00.

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.