Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells 406 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,265,707.52. This represents a 8.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Javier Olivan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, April 14th, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.45, for a total transaction of $338,321.60.
• On Monday, April 7th, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44.
• On Monday, March 31st, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total value of $342,322.24.
• On Monday, March 24th, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total value of $373,901.76.
• On Monday, March 17th, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total value of $369,360.00.
• On Monday, March 10th, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.00, for a total value of $370,272.00.
• On Monday, March 3rd, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $673.96, for a total transaction of $409,767.68.
• On Monday, February 24th, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $686.28, for a total transaction of $417,258.24.
• On Tuesday, February 18th, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total transaction of $447,530.56.
• On Saturday, February 15th, Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,466,769.02.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded up $14.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $547.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,056,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,720,215. The stock's 50-day moving average is $590.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $604.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $615.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $676.55.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Valley Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.