Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan Sells 490 Shares

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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,089 shares in the company, valued at $3,552,865.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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

• On Friday, April 12th, Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 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 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 Up 3.0 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $496.10 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $207.13 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $495.52 and its 200 day simple moving average 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup lifted 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $520.28.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after acquiring an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Signify Wealth purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $79,212,000 after acquiring an additional 4,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.