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

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.46, for a total value of $8,876,444.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 11,384 shares in the company, valued at $6,050,140.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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

• On Monday, August 19th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.94, for a total value of $8,800,951.88.
• On Wednesday, August 21st, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.24, for a total value of $8,906,174.48.
• On Friday, August 16th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.09, for a total value of $8,836,861.18.
• On Monday, August 12th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.89, for a total value of $8,599,692.78.
• On Wednesday, August 14th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.51, for a total transaction of $8,827,174.02.
• On Friday, August 9th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $513.09, for a total transaction of $8,569,629.18.
• On Wednesday, August 7th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 6,534 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total transaction of $3,299,931.36.
• On Friday, August 2nd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50.
• On Tuesday, July 16th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,712 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.27, for a total value of $859,886.24.
• On Friday, July 12th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 14,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.38, for a total transaction of $7,487,274.12.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.3 %

META traded down $6.88 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $521.12. 9,573,856 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,181,000. The stock has a market cap of $1.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.93, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The stock's 50-day moving average is $502.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $491.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $544.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $574.41.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. White Pine Capital LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 1,413 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,850 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,425,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Pursue Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 69.8% in the 4th quarter. Pursue Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,928,000 after purchasing an additional 2,240 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,104 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,222,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Omnia Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 2,807 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $994,000 after buying an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is 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.

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