Zullo Investment Group Inc. Has $7.91 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Zullo Investment Group Inc. cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,516 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 70 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 3.2% of Zullo Investment Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Zullo Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $223,000. Boston Financial Mangement LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 19,496 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $11,415,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 46,970 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,501,000 after purchasing an additional 8,132 shares during the last quarter. Maytree Asset Management Ltd grew its position in Meta Platforms by 739.1% in the fourth quarter. Maytree Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,930 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hardy Reed LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 2,464 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 3,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.10, for a total value of $2,469,975.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.49, for a total transaction of $238,503.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,068,173.34. This trade represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 813,030 shares of company stock worth $525,952,077. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $673.70 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $650.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $594.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. 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.