Bray Capital Advisors Sells 2,665 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bray Capital Advisors lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 96.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,665 shares during the period. Bray Capital Advisors’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $60,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. One Day In July LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. One Day In July LLC now owns 961 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Aspen Investment Management Inc increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Aspen Investment Management Inc now owns 1,523 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Prakash Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $8,045,000. Forte Capital LLC ADV increased its stake 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 valued at $1,387,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $1,899,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $665.75, for a total transaction of $613,155.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,212,039.50. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 813,951 shares of company stock valued at $526,565,232. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Benchmark raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $658.24 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $651.52 and its 200-day moving average is $595.06. 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 has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm posted $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

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.