ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $1.66 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,686 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 590 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $273,000. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,168 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,475,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $3,269,000. Tanager Wealth Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 45.4% during the 4th quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP now owns 13,497 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,777,000 after acquiring an additional 4,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. American Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,258 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,813 shares in the company, valued at $18,853,183.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,421,182 shares of company stock valued at $677,574,550 in the last three months. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.1 %

META traded down $20.73 on Friday, hitting $481.07. 25,215,364 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,967,675. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $494.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $398.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.42%.

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.