Homestead Advisers Corp cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 219,400 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 36,800 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 3.1% of Homestead Advisers Corp's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Homestead Advisers Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $128,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
NASDAQ META traded down $25.84 on Friday, hitting $576.74. 17,561,028 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,238,405. 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. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $655.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $609.21.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $718.31.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Meta Platforms
Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms
In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total transaction of $21,695,565.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.
About Meta Platforms
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Free Report)
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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