Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg Sells 31,493 Shares

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $492.14, for a total value of $15,498,965.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

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

• On Monday, March 25th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.82, for a total transaction of $39,079,125.84.
• 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 stock was sold at an average price of $500.32, for a total transaction 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 transaction 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 transaction 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 transaction of $38,752,447.20.
• On Wednesday, March 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $497.61, for a total transaction of $38,520,985.32.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $493.86 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.90 and a 12 month high of $523.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $464.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $375.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $15,283,000. Fairman Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $403,000. Ariston Services Group acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $207,000. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,069 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $6,528,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $405.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $496.35.

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.