Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg Sells 2,311 Shares

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,311 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.21, for a total value of $1,387,085.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, December 24th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.46, for a total transaction of $21,712,807.66.
• On Friday, December 20th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 10,100 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $601.54, for a total value of $6,075,554.00.
• On Monday, December 16th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $624.85, for a total value of $22,445,236.85.
• On Wednesday, December 18th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,035 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.63, for a total value of $13,631,512.05.
• On Friday, December 13th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $622.24, for a total transaction of $22,351,483.04.
• On Monday, December 9th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $614.36, for a total transaction of $7,971,321.00.
• On Wednesday, December 11th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total transaction of $22,746,973.25.
• On Friday, December 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,946 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $621.84, for a total value of $14,268,740.64.
• On Tuesday, December 3rd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37.
• On Wednesday, October 30th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 420 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.17, for a total value of $252,071.40.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $8.57 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $591.24. The company had a trading volume of 7,001,638 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,716,788. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $587.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $546.38. 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 market cap of $1.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders 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 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% during the third quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.