Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells $2,822,889.56 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan sold 4,891 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $2,822,889.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,999,655.88. This trade represents a 23.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

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

• On Monday, November 18th, Javier Olivan sold 620 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $345,340.00.
• On Friday, November 1st, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total transaction of $234,410.54.
• On Friday, October 25th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total value of $237,128.08.
• On Friday, October 18th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45.
• 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 value of $241,534.79.
• On Friday, October 4th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $583.73, for a total value 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 stock was 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 value of $214,995.41.
• On Friday, September 6th, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $215,586.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $563.09 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $572.05 and a 200-day moving average of $523.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $313.66 and a 12 month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given 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 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. LS Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares during the period. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,573,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $235,872,000 after acquiring an additional 5,594 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

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.