Granite Group Advisors LLC Has $992,000 Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Granite Group Advisors LLC reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,695 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 542 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.6% of Granite Group Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Granite Group Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $12.93 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $689.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,861,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,245,674. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $608.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $563.58. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $387.10 and a one year high of $710.79. The stock has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total value of $234,410.54. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,294 shares in the company, valued at $5,842,668.52. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,366 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $648.68, for a total value of $14,508,376.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 580 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $376,234.40. This represents a 97.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 661,312 shares of company stock worth $407,377,422. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on META. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $770.00 price target (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $698.98.

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.