Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 1,577 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,711 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,577 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.8% of Dana Investment Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $54,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $459,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.26.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 725,081 shares of company stock worth $472,702,625. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $605.71 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $657.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $601.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be 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 is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

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.

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