Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Braun Stacey Associates Inc.

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 128,220 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 575 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.8% of Braun Stacey Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $75,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $34,087,000 after buying an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $866,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META traded up $12.38 on Wednesday, hitting $669.88. The stock had a trading volume of 9,932,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,715,486. The company's 50-day moving average is $648.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $594.06. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. 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. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $719.26.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 812,422 shares of company stock valued at $525,534,818. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.