Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc.

Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,778 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Palacios Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,085,000. Arcus Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,557,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 5,237 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,066,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,519 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,475,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 175,109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $102,528,000 after acquiring an additional 37,313 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $717.90.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were 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 owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. This trade represents 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 valued at $523,808,864. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $703.77 on Thursday. 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 fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The stock 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 firm’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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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%.

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.