Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Values Added Financial LLC

Values Added Financial LLC reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,143 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 20 shares during the quarter. Values Added Financial LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $669,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total transaction of $232,424.01. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,018,473.83. The trade was a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 810,217 shares of company stock worth $523,808,864 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on META shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.8 %

META opened at $703.77 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $644.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $588.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

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.