Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells $13,830,734.28 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $703.21, for a total value of $13,830,734.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

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

• On Friday, February 14th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $734.49, for a total value of $14,445,949.32.
• On Monday, February 10th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,795 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $715.82, for a total value of $25,622,776.90.
• On Wednesday, February 12th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.69, for a total transaction of $14,194,198.92.
• On Friday, February 7th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08.
• On Monday, February 3rd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $696.23, for a total transaction of $9,033,584.25.
• On Wednesday, February 5th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $706.72, for a total transaction of $9,169,692.00.
• On Friday, January 31st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $696.39, for a total transaction of $9,035,660.25.
• On Monday, January 27th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,366 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $648.68, for a total transaction of $14,508,376.88.
• On Wednesday, January 29th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total transaction of $24,195,307.97.
• 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.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $683.62 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $647.09 and a 200 day moving average of $590.57. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.20. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price target (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $717.90.

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.