Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Essex LLC

Essex LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,748 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Essex LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.5% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $261,680,000 after buying an additional 112,047 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 716,847 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $410,352,000 after buying an additional 14,754 shares during the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 94.5% during the third quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 1,443 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $826,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.0% during the third quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beech Hill Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the third quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. now owns 17,528 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,034,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ META opened at $736.67 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $638.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $582.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at $21,416,908.60. This represents a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.69, for a total transaction of $14,194,198.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 793,070 shares of company stock valued at $504,185,108 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on META. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $717.90.

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.