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

Key Points

• Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of company stock for a total of $12,192,364.86 at an average price of $769.38 per share on August 4th.
• The company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate by $1.39, and had revenue of $47.52 billion.
• Meta Platforms recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525, representing a 0.3% yield and a dividend payout ratio of 7.60%.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $769.38, for a total value of $12,192,364.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

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

• On Wednesday, August 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 value of $11,939,605.21.
• On Wednesday, July 2nd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28.
• On Tuesday, July 1st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 stock was sold at an average price of $710.24, for a total value 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 value of $350,190.00.
• On Monday, June 16th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $702.06, for a total value of $9,683,513.58.
• On Tuesday, June 17th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,312 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $702.13, for a total value of $5,836,104.56.
• On Wednesday, June 18th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,753 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $700.43, for a total value of $1,928,283.79.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META traded up $7.47 during trading on Friday, reaching $769.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,308,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,494,221. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $784.75. The company's fifty day moving average price is $711.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $649.96. The company has a market capitalization of $1.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. HSBC upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the second 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 acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the second quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,641,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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.