Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Cut by Capital Investment Counsel Inc

Capital Investment Counsel Inc cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,854 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 725 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.9% of Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Prakash Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $8,045,000. Forte Capital LLC ADV increased its position in Meta Platforms by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 2,368 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,387,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,899,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $70,000. Finally, Dash Acquisitions Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 62,053 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,333,000 after buying an additional 1,468 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on META. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 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 $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 813,951 shares of company stock valued at $526,565,232 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $658.24 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $651.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $595.06. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders 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 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

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.