By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Hart & Patterson Financial Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 411 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Hart & Patterson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $322,000. Shira Ridge Wealth Management increased its position in Meta Platforms by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Shira Ridge Wealth Management now owns 1,833 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,073,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Code Waechter LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 25.8% during the fourth quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 1,073 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Grandview Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Grandview Asset Management LLC now owns 8,854 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,184,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TPG Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. TPG Financial Advisors LLC now owns 750 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.
Insider Activity
In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.55, for a total value of $571,552.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,215,915.50. This trade represents a 2.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 423,427 shares of company stock valued at $256,996,450. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
NASDAQ META opened at $594.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $358.61 and a twelve month high of $638.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $595.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $554.81.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several analysts have weighed in on META shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.05.
Read Our Latest Report on Meta Platforms
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.
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