Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Whalen Wealth Management Inc.

Whalen Wealth Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,648 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,079 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.3% of Whalen Wealth Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Whalen Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,663,600. This represents a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.58, for a total value of $234,410.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,842,668.52. This trade represents a 3.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 568,016 shares of company stock valued at $346,031,180 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $11.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $647.49. 19,039,689 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,840,293. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $385.66 and a 12-month high of $652.00. The company has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $601.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $560.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $40.21 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $720.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $654.20.

Meta Platforms 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.