Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Reduced by Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC

Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,360 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 26 shares during the quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $728.56 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $729.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $636.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $580.80. The firm has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.46, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be 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 yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Benchmark raised 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. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $717.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 793,070 shares of company stock valued at $504,185,108 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.