Index Fund Advisors Inc. Has $1.38 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Index Fund Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,348 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 305 shares during the quarter. Index Fund Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after buying an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $736.67 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $641.19 and a 200 day moving average of $585.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. 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.

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, 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 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 is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on META shares. Pivotal Research raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.90.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total transaction of $232,424.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at $11,018,473.83. This represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 751,033 shares of company stock worth $480,911,671. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.