Mark Zuckerberg Sells 7,466 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,466 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.25, for a total value of $5,235,532.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 132,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,615,490. This trade represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

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

• On Tuesday, June 10th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09.
• On Wednesday, June 11th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,802 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.96, for a total value of $5,476,691.92.
• On Friday, June 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,462 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $1,025,052.06.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $693.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.99, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $600.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $618.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $704.26.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.