Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg Sells 35,921 Shares

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $616.16, for a total value of $22,133,083.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

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

• On Monday, January 13th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.69, for a total value of $21,721,069.49.
• On Friday, January 10th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total value of $7,984,944.75.
• On Monday, January 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total value of $8,023,999.50.
• On Wednesday, January 8th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total value of $21,951,323.10.
• On Friday, January 3rd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total value of $21,695,565.58.
• On Friday, December 27th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,311 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.21, for a total value of $1,387,085.31.
• On Tuesday, December 24th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.46, for a total value of $21,712,807.66.
• 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 value of $6,075,554.00.
• On Monday, December 16th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were 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.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $612.77 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $370.95 and a twelve month high of $638.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.86, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50 day moving average of $596.78 and a 200 day moving average of $556.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 512 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,494,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. FCG Investment Co grew its position in Meta Platforms by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 8,210 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,807,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,020 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,768,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. now owns 625 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

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.