By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,741 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 68 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.7% of Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $559,290.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,019,340. This represents a 2.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $623.50, for a total value of $257,505.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 18,753 shares in the company, valued at $11,692,495.50. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 775,295 shares of company stock valued at $504,237,715 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $625.66 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $656.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $599.31. The company has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages recently commented on META. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Meta Platforms
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.
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