Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells $373,901.76 in Stock

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

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 transaction 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 transaction 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 transaction of $409,767.68.
• On Monday, February 24th, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 shares were sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total value 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 value of $3,466,769.02.
• On Monday, February 3rd, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 shares were 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 stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $255,234.00.
• On Monday, January 13th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $606.77, for a total transaction of $250,596.01.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $576.74 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50 day moving average is $655.23 and its 200-day moving average is $608.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. 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. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.