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

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total value of $24,195,307.97. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

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

• On Monday, January 27th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,366 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $648.68, for a total transaction of $14,508,376.88.
• On Friday, January 24th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total transaction of $23,160,423.96.
• On Wednesday, January 22nd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total transaction of $22,515,282.80.
• On Friday, January 17th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.85, for a total value of $22,050,105.85.
• 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 Wednesday, January 15th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $616.16, for a total value of $22,133,083.36.
• On Friday, January 10th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total transaction 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 transaction 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 transaction of $21,951,323.10.
• On Friday, January 3rd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total value of $21,695,565.58.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $687.00 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $611.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $564.44. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $387.10 and a 52-week high of $710.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.36, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $706.76.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126,190 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $625,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,437 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after purchasing an additional 890,434 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.