Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC

Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,529 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 27 shares during the quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total transaction of $520,103.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,387 shares in the company, valued at $18,612,808.90. This represents a 2.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total value of $239,808.45. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,456,828. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 411,357 shares of company stock worth $249,545,428. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.5 %

META traded down $9.16 on Monday, reaching $606.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,311,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,447,462. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $593.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $553.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $358.61 and a fifty-two week high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

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.