Plancorp LLC Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Plancorp LLC reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,251 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 566 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ META traded down $8.40 on Thursday, reaching $602.58. 10,412,777 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,822,863. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $656.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $608.02. The company has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Remove Ads

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders 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 is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $820.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $718.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,311 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.21, for a total transaction of $1,387,085.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 586,213 shares of company stock valued at $387,084,349 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.