Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells $253,697.50 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total value of $253,697.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,924,027.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

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 shares were 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 shares were 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 shares were 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 shares were 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 shares were 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 shares were 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 shares were 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 Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $481.07 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $494.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $398.64. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $207.13 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, March 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.53.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the period. Bank of Stockton increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Signify Wealth acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $228,000. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Keel Point LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.3% during the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 6,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,008,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.