IMS Capital Management Sells 623 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

IMS Capital Management trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,629 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 623 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 2.3% of IMS Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. IMS Capital Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total transaction of $511,596.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,362,687. This trade represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at $11,018,473.83. The trade was a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 810,217 shares of company stock worth $523,808,864. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 target price (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $703.77 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $644.55 and a 200-day moving average price 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

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.