Whalen Wealth Management Inc. Sells 1,079 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Whalen Wealth Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,648 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,079 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.3% of Whalen Wealth Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Whalen Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $647.49 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $601.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $560.33. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $385.66 and a 1 year high of $652.00.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total transaction of $524,990.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,262,708.20. The trade was a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 568,016 shares of company stock valued at $346,031,180. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $654.20.

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.