Mark Zuckerberg Sells 420 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 420 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.17, for a total value of $252,071.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,004 shares of the company's stock, valued at $310,890,460.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

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

• On Monday, October 14th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00.
• On Monday, October 7th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00.
• On Friday, August 30th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 4,909 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.17, for a total value of $2,548,605.53.
• On Monday, August 26th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.48, for a total value of $8,693,056.96.
• On Wednesday, August 28th, Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.36, for a total value of $4,117,971.00.
• On Friday, August 23rd, Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.46, for a total value of $8,876,444.92.
• 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 shares were sold at an average price of $514.89, for a total value of $8,599,692.78.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded down $0.42 on Friday, reaching $567.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,278,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,161,203. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $308.33 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $555.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $512.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.26% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $90,891,055,000 after purchasing an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after acquiring an additional 244,803 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,582,876,000 after acquiring an additional 342,742 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $634.10.

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.

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