Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells $22,445,236.85 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $624.85, for a total value of $22,445,236.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

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

• On Wednesday, December 18th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,035 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 value 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 value of $7,971,321.00.
• On Wednesday, December 11th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total value of $22,746,973.25.
• On Friday, December 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,946 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 stock was 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.
• On Monday, October 14th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00.
• On Monday, October 7th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $585.25 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $585.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $541.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $340.01 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. The company has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for 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, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares in the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $235,872,000 after buying an additional 5,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 721,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $412,606,000 after buying an additional 91,773 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.