Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Legacy Capital Group California Inc.

Legacy Capital Group California Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 49.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,586 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,538 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Group California Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $261,680,000 after acquiring an additional 112,047 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 47.0% during the third quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. now owns 991 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the third quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. now owns 5,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,364,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.5% during the third quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 1,708 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $658.24 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $651.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $595.06. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase 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 yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.49, for a total value of $238,503.37. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,068,173.34. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 36,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,738,325. This trade represents a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 813,951 shares of company stock valued at $526,565,232. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.