Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 129,200 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 2.9% of Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $75,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VeraBank N.A. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity
In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total transaction of $373,901.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,838 shares in the company, valued at $4,205,164.86. This trade represents a 8.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,311 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.21, for a total value of $1,387,085.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 586,213 shares of company stock valued at $387,084,349. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have recently weighed in on META. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $718.31.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
META stock traded down $8.40 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $602.58. The company had a trading volume of 10,412,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,822,847. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $656.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $608.02. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. 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 (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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.78%.
Meta Platforms Profile
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Free Report)
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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