Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells 35,921 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.46, for a total value of $21,712,807.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

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

• 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 transaction of $6,075,554.00.
• On Monday, December 16th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 shares were 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 transaction 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 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 transaction 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 shares were 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 shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.7 %

META stock opened at $603.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $587.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $545.17. The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $340.01 and a twelve month high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. DA Davidson started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $638.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 21.0% in the second quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 13,365 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,739,000 after acquiring an additional 2,315 shares during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $210,000. LS Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 128.3% during the second quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,524 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,785,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10,698 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,394,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.