Pacific Global Investment Management Co. Decreases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Pacific Global Investment Management Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 94.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 456 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 7,568 shares during the period. Pacific Global Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Silphium Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Silphium Asset Management Ltd now owns 7,978 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 54,895 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $32,258,000 after purchasing an additional 3,199 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $34,228,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 44.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 204,518 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $119,747,000 after purchasing an additional 62,644 shares during the period. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,110 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,505,000 after buying an additional 2,745 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $625.66 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $656.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $600.49. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.16, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company earned $5.33 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $623.50, for a total value of $257,505.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 18,753 shares in the company, valued at $11,692,495.50. This trade represents a 2.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 775,295 shares of company stock worth $504,237,715. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.