Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Lowered by Cape ANN Savings Bank

Cape ANN Savings Bank lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,692 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 20 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 0.9% of Cape ANN Savings Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Cape ANN Savings Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,031 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 139.2% in the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 28,971 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,963,000 after purchasing an additional 16,860 shares during the period. Partners Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $238,000. Black Diamond Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 1,379 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $808,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 113.9% in the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 12,598 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,376,000 after purchasing an additional 6,708 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 owns 34,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,212,039.50. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 813,538 shares of company stock valued at $526,326,729 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $668.20 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $653.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $597.08. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

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.