Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells $239,808.45 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,456,828. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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

• On Friday, October 11th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.83, for a total transaction of $241,534.79.
• On Friday, October 4th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $583.73, for a total transaction of $241,080.49.
• On Friday, September 27th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total transaction of $235,410.00.
• On Friday, September 20th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $231,280.00.
• On Friday, September 13th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $520.57, for a total transaction of $214,995.41.
• On Friday, September 6th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $215,586.00.
• On Friday, August 30th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.35, for a total transaction of $215,317.55.
• On Friday, August 23rd, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total transaction of $221,747.96.
• On Thursday, August 15th, Javier Olivan sold 4,900 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,581,124.00.
• On Thursday, August 1st, Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.48, for a total value of $214,849.76.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $567.78 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $549.53 and a 200-day moving average of $509.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,620 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $595,152,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $515,383,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on META shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $619.20.

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.