Beck Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,032 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,159 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 3.7% of Beck Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Beck Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,928,185,000 after buying an additional 204,412 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 3,219 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 2,853 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,633,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,048 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $9,704,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $676.55.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on META
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. The trade was a 9.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total value of $643,414.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,607,740.16. This trade represents a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 308,068 shares of company stock valued at $214,968,924. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $14.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $547.27. The company had a trading volume of 17,064,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,447,709. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $590.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $604.75. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $427.11 and a twelve month high of $740.91. 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 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.
Meta Platforms Profile
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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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