Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Beckerman Institutional LLC

Beckerman Institutional LLC decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,482 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 84 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.2% of Beckerman Institutional LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Beckerman Institutional LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $703.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $644.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $588.38.

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 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 in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $703.21, for a total transaction of $13,830,734.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the firm’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 $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 810,217 shares of company stock worth $523,808,864 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.