Amalgamated Bank Sells 15,124 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Amalgamated Bank lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 471,568 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 15,124 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.3% of Amalgamated Bank's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Amalgamated Bank's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $276,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of META. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $261,680,000 after acquiring an additional 112,047 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the third quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $889,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 340,762 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $195,066,000 after buying an additional 2,465 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $16.47 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $656.47. 13,751,008 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,644,305. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $655.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $599.11.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 797,320 shares of company stock worth $517,913,331 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Benchmark upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $820.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $770.00 target price (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $800.00 price target (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $719.26.

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.