Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by MRA Advisory Group

MRA Advisory Group reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 59 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.8% of MRA Advisory Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. MRA Advisory Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,436,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 27,272 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,089 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 31.0% in the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. RS Crum Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the second quarter. RS Crum Inc. now owns 1,062 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.2% during the second quarter. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 52.1% during the second quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,251 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,135,000 after buying an additional 771 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $594.25 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $358.61 and a 1 year high of $638.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $595.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $554.81. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,644 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.55, for a total transaction of $10,320,386.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,888,979.95. This represents a 28.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total value of $7,984,944.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 381,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,649,678.90. This trade represents a 3.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 423,427 shares of company stock worth $256,996,450. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

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.