LSV Asset Management Sells 24,958 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

LSV Asset Management reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 435,402 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 24,958 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $254,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $698.40.

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Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ META traded down $11.88 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $531.69. 7,562,309 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,749,020. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company's 50-day moving average is $628.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $609.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 period last year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 308,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at $209,199,589.06. This trade represents a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total transaction of $500,462.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,943,062.60. This represents a 3.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 451,119 shares of company stock valued at $304,709,239 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.