Mark Zuckerberg Sells 31,493 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $511.13, for a total transaction of $16,097,017.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Monday, March 4th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.60, for a total value of $38,752,447.20.
• On Wednesday, March 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $497.61, for a total transaction of $38,520,985.32.
• On Friday, March 1st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 45,919 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.30, for a total transaction of $22,973,275.70.
• On Monday, February 26th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.34, for a total transaction of $37,416,316.08.
• On Wednesday, February 28th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.18, for a total transaction of $37,636,166.16.
• On Friday, February 23rd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.52, for a total transaction of $15,353,467.36.
• On Wednesday, February 21st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.08, for a total transaction of $45,253,105.44.
• On Friday, February 16th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 34,398 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.83, for a total transaction of $16,298,804.34.
• On Monday, February 12th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 34,398 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.32, for a total transaction of $16,281,261.36.
• On Wednesday, February 14th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 34,398 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.69, for a total transaction of $16,156,396.62.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded down $22.36 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $483.59. The stock had a trading volume of 20,378,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,292,656. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $431.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $358.74. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $174.82 and a 52-week high of $523.57.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.00 EPS. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 13.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $440.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $414.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, forty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $494.53.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $4,223,148,000. Morgan Stanley bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $4,072,543,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,796,633,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,731,491,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after buying an additional 5,001,647 shares during the last quarter. 62.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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