Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Sells 612 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,196 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 612 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.4% of Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,644 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.55, for a total transaction of $10,320,386.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,888,979.95. This trade represents a 28.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 793,070 shares of company stock valued at $504,185,108. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $728.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $636.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $580.80. 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 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $729.00.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on META. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.90.

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.