Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells $237,128.08 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total value of $237,128.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,147,531.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

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

• 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 shares were sold at an average price of $584.83, for a total transaction of $241,534.79.
• On Friday, October 4th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 transaction of $235,410.00.
• On Friday, September 20th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were 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 stock was 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 shares were 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 stock was 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 shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,581,124.00.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $15.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $593.28. 12,873,120 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,047,911. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $552.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $511.04. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 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. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $296.86 and a 1-year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.44 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $621.63.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 14.0% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,962,767,000 after purchasing an additional 748,076 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% during the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.8% during the first quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 34,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,894,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the first quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,311 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $637,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.