Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Lake Street Private Wealth LLC

Lake Street Private Wealth LLC decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,550 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 935 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.4% of Lake Street Private Wealth LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,388,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,271,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,199,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on META shares. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $650.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total value of $22,746,973.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 496,174 shares of company stock valued at $301,408,499 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.2 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $1.47 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $612.77. 17,239,131 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,812,479. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $596.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $557.04. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $370.95 and a 12-month high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

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.