Mark Zuckerberg Sells 9,760 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total transaction of $4,908,011.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 247,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,669,016.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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

• On Wednesday, June 26th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total value of $8,532,717.76.
• On Friday, June 21st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.05, for a total value of $1,029,156.70.
• On Friday, June 14th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.34, for a total transaction of $8,406,784.68.
• On Tuesday, June 11th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.18, for a total transaction of $8,404,112.36.
• On Thursday, June 6th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12.
• On Monday, April 1st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,465 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.49, for a total transaction of $15,464,732.85.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $519.56 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $479.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $452.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.38 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.05.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.3% in the third quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 30,830 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,255,000 after purchasing an additional 6,019 shares during the period. Private Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 66,307 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $19,906,000 after acquiring an additional 1,388 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 240,570 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $72,222,000 after acquiring an additional 4,779 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 51.0% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 136,994 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,127,000 after acquiring an additional 46,292 shares during the period. Finally, Staley Capital Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the third quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 1,975 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.