Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells $253,697.50 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total transaction of $253,697.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,924,027.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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

• On Friday, April 5th, Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.51, for a total transaction of $253,089.90.
• On Monday, April 1st, Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.75, for a total transaction of $238,507.50.
• On Friday, March 22nd, Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.00, for a total transaction of $248,430.00.
• On Friday, March 15th, Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.25, for a total transaction of $239,242.50.
• On Friday, March 8th, Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $513.32, for a total transaction of $251,526.80.
• On Friday, March 1st, Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $492.13, for a total transaction of $241,143.70.
• On Friday, February 23rd, Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70.
• On Thursday, February 15th, Javier Olivan sold 7,556 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,576,103.68.
• On Monday, January 29th, Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00.
• On Wednesday, January 24th, Javier Olivan sold 4,500 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.00, for a total transaction of $1,777,500.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $4.33 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $495.43. 9,269,311 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,035,971. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.25, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $493.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $396.01. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $465.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.90.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.