Northern Financial Advisors Inc Sells 107 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Northern Financial Advisors Inc lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,612 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 107 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.2% of Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 19,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,018,473.83. This trade represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 810,217 shares of company stock worth $523,808,864 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $703.77 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company’s 50-day moving average is $644.55 and its 200-day moving average is $588.38.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $770.00 target price (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $717.90.

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.