Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells 517 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.51, for a total value of $370,952.67. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,336 shares in the company, valued at $5,263,653.36. This trade represents a 6.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Javier Olivan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, June 30th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $740.97, for a total value of $383,081.49.
• On Monday, June 23rd, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.47, for a total value of $353,353.99.
• On Monday, June 16th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $699.27, for a total value of $361,522.59.
• On Monday, June 9th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $698.00, for a total value of $360,866.00.
• On Monday, June 2nd, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.93, for a total value of $333,428.81.
• On Tuesday, May 27th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $635.41, for a total value of $328,506.97.
• On Monday, May 19th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $628.25, for a total value of $324,805.25.
• On Thursday, May 15th, Javier Olivan sold 2,615 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $1,724,226.40.
• On Monday, May 12th, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.25, for a total value of $383,800.00.
• On Monday, May 5th, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.00, for a total value of $359,936.00.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of META traded down $9.73 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $717.51. 10,855,962 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,480,953. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $747.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a fifty day moving average of $674.77 and a 200-day moving average of $634.17.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Valley Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the second quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $735.00 to $795.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $729.38.

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.