Hudock Inc. Sells 200 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Hudock Inc. decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,145 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Hudock Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. MGB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,166 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $684,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 1,088 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC now owns 602 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,973 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,155,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,964 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,150,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $703.77 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $644.55 and a 200 day moving average of $588.38. 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 $1.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.42, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $717.90.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $703.21, for a total value of $13,830,734.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 810,217 shares of company stock worth $523,808,864 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.