MSA Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,324 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 3.6% of MSA Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. MSA Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms
In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,182 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,673.10. The trade was a 2.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $25.84 during trading on Friday, hitting $576.74. The stock had a trading volume of 17,561,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,238,405. The business has a fifty day moving average of $655.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $609.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. 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 (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 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 in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.78%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $718.31.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on META
About Meta Platforms
(
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider Meta Platforms, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Meta Platforms wasn't on the list.
While Meta Platforms currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Wondering when you'll finally be able to invest in SpaceX, Starlink, or X.AI? Enter your email address to learn when Elon Musk will let these companies finally IPO.
Get This Free Report
