Mark Zuckerberg Sells 22,366 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $648.68, for a total transaction of $14,508,376.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 580 shares in the company, valued at $376,234.40. The trade was a 97.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Mark Zuckerberg also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, January 29th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total transaction of $24,195,307.97.
• On Friday, January 24th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total transaction of $23,160,423.96.
• On Wednesday, January 22nd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total value of $22,515,282.80.
• On Friday, January 17th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.85, for a total value of $22,050,105.85.
• On Monday, January 13th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.69, for a total value of $21,721,069.49.
• On Wednesday, January 15th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $616.16, for a total value of $22,133,083.36.
• On Friday, January 10th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total value of $7,984,944.75.
• On Monday, January 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total transaction of $8,023,999.50.
• On Wednesday, January 8th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total transaction of $21,951,323.10.
• On Friday, January 3rd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total value of $21,695,565.58.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $2.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $676.49. The company had a trading volume of 20,552,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,885,814. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $606.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $562.78. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $387.10 and a 1-year high of $682.58.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $655.41.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $1,559,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 208.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 259 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 886,858 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $447,171,000 after purchasing an additional 36,981 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 30.4% in the second quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $201,000. 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.