O Brien Wealth Partners LLC Sells 222 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

O Brien Wealth Partners LLC lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,649 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 222 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.2% of O Brien Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $965,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,266,531,000 after buying an additional 263,063 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,101,602,000 after buying an additional 186,728 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $736.67 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $638.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $582.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. 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) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business posted $5.33 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $770.00 price target (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $717.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % 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, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,644 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.55, for a total value of $10,320,386.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,888,979.95. This represents a 28.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 793,070 shares of company stock valued at $504,185,108 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.