Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells $346,198.71 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $669.63, for a total value of $346,198.71. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 13,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,208,082.13. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

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

• On Monday, December 1st, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.03, for a total transaction of $330,378.51.
• On Monday, November 24th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $598.54, for a total transaction of $309,445.18.
• On Monday, November 17th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.23, for a total transaction of $312,386.91.
• On Saturday, November 15th, Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $1,590,690.60.
• On Monday, November 10th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.00, for a total transaction of $326,227.00.
• On Monday, November 3rd, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $656.00, for a total transaction of $339,152.00.
• On Monday, October 27th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $749.57, for a total value of $387,527.69.
• On Monday, October 20th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $721.30, for a total value of $372,912.10.
• On Monday, October 13th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.34, for a total value of $368,796.78.
• On Monday, October 6th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $704.81, for a total value of $364,386.77.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $644.23 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $665.92 and a 200 day moving average of $706.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.03 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on META. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research cut Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $825.00 target price (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $819.46.

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.