Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 23,633 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 558 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.0% of Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Argus set a $775.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Two investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.31.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total transaction of $243,670.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,927 shares in the company, valued at $10,576,930. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 632,023 shares of company stock worth $414,734,884 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $584.06 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $656.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $604.69. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

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.