Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells $5,235,532.50 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,466 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.25, for a total transaction 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 $92,615,490. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, June 10th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction 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 transaction of $5,476,691.92.
• On Friday, June 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,462 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $1,025,052.06.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $693.36. 7,303,916 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,493,692. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.99, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm's 50-day moving average is $597.08 and its 200-day moving average is $617.62.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $704.26.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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.