Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg Sells 1,037 Shares

Key Points

• Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, sold 1,037 shares at an average price of $785.18, totaling approximately $814,232 in a recent transaction disclosed to the SEC.
• Meta's stock declined by 1.3% to hit $780.08, with recent trading volume around 8.8 million shares, which is below its average volume of 13.3 million.
• Barclays and other analysts have increased their target prices for META stock, with Barclays setting a new target at $810.00 and KeyCorp raising theirs to $905.00, indicating a positive outlook from financial experts.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,037 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $785.18, for a total transaction of $814,231.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, August 12th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $787.06, for a total transaction of $12,472,539.82.
• On Friday, August 8th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $765.11, for a total transaction 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 transaction 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 transaction of $12,181,113.49.
• On Friday, August 1st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were 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 transaction of $9,984,614.77.
• On Friday, June 27th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $730.47, for a total transaction of $10,075,372.71.
• On Wednesday, June 25th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 stock was sold at an average price of $700.38, for a total transaction of $350,190.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $9.92 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $780.08. The stock had a trading volume of 8,791,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,328,413. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $795.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $720.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $653.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Skye Global Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 130.9% in the fourth quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,616,000 after buying an additional 43,200 shares in the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $284,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

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.

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