Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells 490 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total value of $253,697.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,579 shares in the company, valued at $3,924,027.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Javier Olivan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, April 5th, Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.51, for a total value of $253,089.90.
• On Monday, April 1st, Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $486.75, for a total value of $238,507.50.
• On Friday, March 22nd, Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.00, for a total value of $248,430.00.
• On Friday, March 15th, Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.25, for a total value of $239,242.50.
• On Friday, March 8th, Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $513.32, for a total value of $251,526.80.
• On Friday, March 1st, Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $492.13, for a total value of $241,143.70.
• On Friday, February 23rd, Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70.
• On Thursday, February 15th, Javier Olivan sold 7,556 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,576,103.68.
• On Monday, January 29th, Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00.
• On Wednesday, January 24th, Javier Olivan sold 4,500 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.00, for a total value of $1,777,500.00.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.1 %

NASDAQ META opened at $481.07 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $494.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $398.64. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.5% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $499,020,000 after acquiring an additional 249,926 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 284.0% in the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 2,482 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 26.9% in the first quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.53.

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.