PYA Waltman Capital LLC Sells 49 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

PYA Waltman Capital LLC reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 352 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 49 shares during the period. PYA Waltman Capital LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 6,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Benchmark upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.3 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $658.24 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $651.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $595.06. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20.

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 the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $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 firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total value of $643,414.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,607,740.16. This represents a 3.18 % 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.49, for a total value of $238,503.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 19,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,068,173.34. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 813,951 shares of company stock valued at $526,565,232 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently 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.