Mark Zuckerberg Sells 16,702 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.96, for a total transaction of $8,600,861.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 213,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,690,084.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

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

• On Monday, June 24th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 9,760 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.87, for a total value of $4,908,011.20.
• 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 transaction of $8,532,717.76.
• On Friday, June 21st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 value 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 stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of META stock opened at $504.68 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.38 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $480.46 and a 200-day moving average of $456.83. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.99, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. 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 research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.27.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. 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.