Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Sells $5,836,104.56 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,312 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $702.13, for a total transaction of $5,836,104.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 88,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $62,048,632.36. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

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

• 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 Wednesday, June 18th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,753 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $700.43, for a total value of $1,928,283.79.
• On Monday, June 9th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,466 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.25, for a total value of $5,235,532.50.
• 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 shares were 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 shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $1,025,052.06.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $1.46 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $695.77. 9,635,650 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,501,970. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business's fifty day moving average is $612.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $621.89. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $676.00 to $807.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $710.00.

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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