Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Beacon Financial Group

Beacon Financial Group cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 113 shares during the quarter. Beacon Financial Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,266,531,000 after acquiring an additional 263,063 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after acquiring an additional 118,298 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,101,602,000 after buying an additional 186,728 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1 %

META opened at $736.67 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. 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. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $641.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $585.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. 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 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.90.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total transaction of $232,424.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. This trade represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total value of $643,414.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,607,740.16. The trade was a 3.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 751,033 shares of company stock worth $480,911,671 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company 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.