Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg Sells 31,493 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $492.14, for a total transaction of $15,498,965.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

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

• On Monday, March 25th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.82, for a total value of $39,079,125.84.
• On Friday, March 22nd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.92, for a total transaction of $39,241,691.04.
• On Monday, March 18th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $492.37, for a total transaction of $15,506,208.41.
• On Wednesday, March 20th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.32, for a total transaction of $15,756,577.76.
• On Friday, March 15th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $485.11, for a total value of $37,553,335.32.
• On Monday, March 11th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $485.10, for a total transaction of $15,277,254.30.
• On Wednesday, March 13th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $495.66, for a total transaction of $38,370,031.92.
• On Friday, March 8th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.13, for a total value of $16,097,017.09.
• On Monday, March 4th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.60, for a total transaction of $38,752,447.20.
• On Wednesday, March 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $497.61, for a total transaction of $38,520,985.32.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $493.86 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $464.84 and a 200 day moving average of $375.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $197.90 and a 52 week high of $523.57. The company has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104,550 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 155,776,067 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,704,616,000 after purchasing an additional 2,841,147 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after buying an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 88,542,953 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $25,410,057,000 after buying an additional 1,548,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,054,513 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,469,906,000 after acquiring an additional 927,491 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Raymond James upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $405.00 to $527.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $496.35.

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.