Provident Wealth Management LLC Sells 138 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Provident Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 138 shares during the period. Provident Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of META. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in Meta Platforms by 32.5% during 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 boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $889,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $759,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 340,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $195,066,000 after buying an additional 2,465 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.0 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $655.05 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.39, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $654.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $597.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 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. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $623.50, for a total value of $257,505.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 18,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,692,495.50. This represents a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 796,712 shares of company stock worth $517,503,564 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

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.