Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by MWA Asset Management

MWA Asset Management decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,734 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 270 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 3.0% of MWA Asset Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. MWA Asset Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. Lindenwold Advisors INC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several research reports. Benchmark upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $728.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.46, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $636.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $580.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $729.00.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.69, for a total value of $14,194,198.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total transaction of $643,414.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,607,740.16. This represents a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 793,070 shares of company stock valued at $504,185,108 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.