Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Sells 1,391 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,591 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,391 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.5% of Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $715.91 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $643.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $587.57. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $734.49, for a total transaction of $14,445,949.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. The trade was a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 770,701 shares of company stock valued at $495,357,621. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.