Davis Selected Advisers Sells 222,289 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Davis Selected Advisers lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,492,597 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 222,289 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 8.5% of Davis Selected Advisers' investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Davis Selected Advisers owned 0.10% of Meta Platforms worth $1,459,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,658,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after buying an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $625,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $520,662,000 after purchasing an additional 890,434 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on META shares. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.66, for a total value of $567,127.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,725 shares in the company, valued at $21,760,768.50. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the company'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 $3,727,550.20. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 726,610 shares of company stock worth $473,620,892 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded down $28.92 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $590.64. 16,401,585 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,671,526. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The business's 50-day moving average price is $657.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $602.00.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 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 business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors 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 is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. 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.