FDx Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

FDx Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,235 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 62 shares during the period. FDx Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target 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. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $538,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,738,325. This trade represents a 2.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 813,951 shares of company stock valued at $526,565,232. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of META stock 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. The firm 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. The company has a 50-day moving average of $651.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $595.06. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91.

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, 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 period last year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

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.