Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Lessened by Second Half Financial Partners LLC

Second Half Financial Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 44.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 680 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 547 shares during the quarter. Second Half Financial Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded up $4.70 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $554.44. The company had a trading volume of 11,740,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,338,952. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $427.11 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $583.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $604.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total transaction of $643,414.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,488 shares in the company, valued at $19,607,740.16. The trade was a 3.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 284,384 shares of company stock valued at $199,598,622. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $628.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $681.95.

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.