Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Pictet North America Advisors SA

Pictet North America Advisors SA trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,557 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,678 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.0% of Pictet North America Advisors SA’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Pictet North America Advisors SA’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $20,819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in 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 Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was 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 $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 810,217 shares of company stock valued at $523,808,864. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $694.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.05, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $645.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $589.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period last year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

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.