F M Investments LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

F M Investments LLC lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 18.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,180 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 19,691 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.9% of F M Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. F M Investments LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $52,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $616.16, for a total transaction of $22,133,083.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value 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. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 451,119 shares of company stock worth $304,709,239 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ META traded down $9.58 during trading on Monday, hitting $533.99. 6,530,922 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,746,007. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $628.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $609.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick 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 data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 business posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on META. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho lifted 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. Argus set a $775.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $698.40.

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.