Conning Inc. Sells 1,983 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Conning Inc. trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,518 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,983 shares during the period. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 46,448 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,196,000 after buying an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,445 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,872,000 after buying an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Seamount Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 89.3% during the 4th quarter. Seamount Financial Group Inc. now owns 941 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Northstar Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Northstar Group Inc. now owns 24,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $14,513,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shepherd Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,374 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,660,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $728.56 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $729.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $636.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $580.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.46, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 793,070 shares of company stock valued at $504,185,108 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.