Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells $39,079,125.84 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.82, for a total value of $39,079,125.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

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

• On Wednesday, March 27th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $492.14, for a total value of $15,498,965.02.
• On Friday, March 22nd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.92, for a total value of $39,241,691.04.
• On Monday, March 18th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $492.37, for a total value of $15,506,208.41.
• On Wednesday, March 20th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.32, for a total value of $15,756,577.76.
• On Friday, March 15th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $485.11, for a total value of $37,553,335.32.
• On Monday, March 11th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $485.10, for a total value of $15,277,254.30.
• On Wednesday, March 13th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $495.66, for a total value of $38,370,031.92.
• On Friday, March 8th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.13, for a total value of $16,097,017.09.
• On Monday, March 4th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.60, for a total value of $38,752,447.20.
• On Wednesday, March 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $497.61, for a total value of $38,520,985.32.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $2.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $493.86. 9,956,260 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,953,021. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $462.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $374.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $197.90 and a twelve month high of $523.57.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 137.5% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,532,030 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,300,602,000 after buying an additional 2,623,447 shares during the last quarter. Signify Wealth acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $228,000. Keel Point LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.3% in the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 6,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,008,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.6% in the third quarter. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. now owns 4,149 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 16.4% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 105,142 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,565,000 after purchasing an additional 14,824 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $405.00 to $527.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $465.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $496.35.

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.