Insider Selling: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells $338,321.60 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.45, for a total value of $338,321.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,790,040.30. This trade represents a 10.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

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

• 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 value 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 transaction of $342,322.24.
• On Monday, March 24th, Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were 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 shares were 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 shares were sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total value 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.
• On Monday, February 3rd, Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $676.00, for a total transaction of $279,188.00.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $501.48 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $608.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $606.80. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after buying an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,908,382,000 after purchasing an additional 110,040 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $684.10.

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.