Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,177 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 440 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.8% of Meritage Portfolio Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 5,347 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,893,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 400.7% in the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 30,070 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,644,000 after buying an additional 24,065 shares during the period. Nadler Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Nadler Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,332 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,533,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 51,263 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,145,000 after acquiring an additional 3,095 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of META stock traded down $1.58 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $439.80. The company had a trading volume of 26,147,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,303,029. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $229.85 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The company’s fifty day moving average is $495.08 and its 200 day moving average is $403.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.37% and a net margin of 32.06%. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note 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 issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.18.

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.