Channel Wealth LLC Cuts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Channel Wealth LLC trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 22.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,132 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,463 shares during the quarter. Channel Wealth LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after acquiring an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares during the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,573,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $235,872,000 after buying an additional 5,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 721,339 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $412,606,000 after acquiring an additional 91,773 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $650.05.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total transaction of $520,103.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,387 shares in the company, valued at $18,612,808.90. This represents a 2.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 496,174 shares of company stock worth $301,408,499. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $1.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $612.77. The company had a trading volume of 17,239,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,812,479. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $596.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $556.71. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $370.95 and a one year high of $638.40.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.