Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Sells 8,400 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 66.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,200 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 8,400 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $223,000. Boston Financial Mangement LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 19,496 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $11,415,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 46,970 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,501,000 after purchasing an additional 8,132 shares during the period. Maytree Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 739.1% during the 4th quarter. Maytree Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,930 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hardy Reed LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 2,464 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.5 %

META stock opened at $673.70 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $650.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $594.62.

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, 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. This is an increase 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of Meta Platforms 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 $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 813,030 shares of company stock valued at $525,952,077. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.