Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,412 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,962 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.3% of Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RFG Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. RFG Holdings Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. NEW THINKING HONG KONG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CO. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $4,652,000. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $3,648,000. James J. Burns & Company LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 1,092 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $639,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Needham & Company LLC reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $717.90.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on META
Meta Platforms Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $2.40 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $719.80. 12,979,797 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,791,308. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $725.01. The company's 50 day moving average price is $631.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $578.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.09, a PEG ratio of 1.46 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter last year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.36%.
Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms
In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total transaction of $232,424.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at $11,018,473.83. This represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 756,735 shares of company stock worth $475,285,232. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
About Meta Platforms
(
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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