Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells 15,847 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, recently sold 15,847 shares at an average price of $787.06, totaling over $12 million in value, reflecting a series of stock sales in August.
• Meta Platforms stock is currently trading at $780.08, down 1.3% from previous sessions, with a market cap of approximately $1.96 trillion.
• The company recently reported a strong quarterly earnings performance, with $7.14 earnings per share exceeding estimates and revenue of $47.52 billion, marking a 21.6% year-over-year increase.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $787.06, for a total value of $12,472,539.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Wednesday, August 13th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,037 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $785.18, for a total value of $814,231.66.
• On Friday, August 8th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $765.11, for a total value of $12,124,698.17.
• On Monday, August 4th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $769.38, for a total value of $12,192,364.86.
• On Wednesday, August 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $768.67, for a total value of $12,181,113.49.
• On Friday, August 1st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21.
• On Wednesday, July 2nd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28.
• On Tuesday, July 1st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.89, for a total value of $9,984,614.77.
• On Friday, June 27th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $730.47, for a total value of $10,075,372.71.
• On Wednesday, June 25th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $710.24, for a total transaction of $9,796,340.32.
• On Friday, June 20th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 500 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $700.38, for a total value of $350,190.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META traded up $2.05 during trading on Thursday, reaching $782.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,079,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,337,050. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $720.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $653.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $795.46.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Valley Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the second quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.