IMS Capital Management Has $5.05 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

IMS Capital Management cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,629 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 623 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.3% of IMS Capital Management's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. IMS Capital Management's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.1 %

Meta Platforms stock traded down $7.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $687.35. The company had a trading volume of 9,296,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,553,415. 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 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $645.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $589.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm earned $5.33 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $703.21, for a total value of $13,830,734.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,018,473.83. This represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 810,217 shares of company stock valued at $523,808,864. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms 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.