Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells $245,578.20 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total transaction of $245,578.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,552,865.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

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

• On Friday, April 12th, Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total transaction of $253,697.50.
• On Friday, April 5th, Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were 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 stock was 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 stock was 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 stock was 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 stock was 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 stock was 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 stock was 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.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META traded up $14.37 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $496.10. The stock had a trading volume of 14,985,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,131,002. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $207.13 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $495.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $402.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.28.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,054,513 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,469,906,000 after purchasing an additional 927,491 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,890,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,296,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,719 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.