Mark Zuckerberg Sells 31,465 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.49, for a total value of $15,464,732.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

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

• On Monday, March 25th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.82, for a total value of $39,079,125.84.
• On Wednesday, March 27th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $492.14, for a total value of $15,498,965.02.
• On Friday, March 22nd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.92, for a total value of $39,241,691.04.
• On Monday, March 18th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $492.37, for a total value of $15,506,208.41.
• On Wednesday, March 20th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.32, for a total value of $15,756,577.76.
• On Friday, March 15th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $485.11, for a total value of $37,553,335.32.
• On Monday, March 11th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $485.10, for a total value of $15,277,254.30.
• On Wednesday, March 13th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $495.66, for a total value of $38,370,031.92.
• On Friday, March 8th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $511.13, for a total value of $16,097,017.09.
• 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.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $510.92 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $478.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $382.77. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $207.13 and a 1 year high of $530.00.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The company’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.00 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 13.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Madison Wealth Partners Inc lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 670 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 4,895 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,590 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WoodTrust Financial Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $499.38.

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.