Javier Olivan Sells 413 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total transaction of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Monday, December 23rd, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total value of $243,670.00.
• On Monday, December 16th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.56, for a total value of $260,008.28.
• 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 value 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 transaction 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 transaction of $232,424.01.
• On Monday, November 18th, Javier Olivan sold 620 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction 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 transaction of $2,822,889.56.
• On Friday, November 1st, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total value 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 value 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 value of $239,808.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $13.73 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $599.24. The company had a trading volume of 12,142,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,682,313. The company has a 50 day moving average of $588.62 and a 200 day moving average of $547.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $343.17 and a 52-week high of $638.40. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Two research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $640.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $218,000. Bray Capital Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the second quarter. Bray Capital Advisors now owns 2,768 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Fortress Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 58.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fortress Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,783 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares during the period. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,506 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,264,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 82,425 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,560,000 after purchasing an additional 15,411 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.