GenTrust LLC Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

GenTrust LLC lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 41.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 911 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 655 shares during the quarter. GenTrust LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $866,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Argus set a $775.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Benchmark raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 308,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. This represents a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,019,340. This trade represents a 2.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 796,712 shares of company stock valued at $517,503,564 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $640.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s 50-day moving average is $654.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $598.70. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

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.