Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Sells 27,063 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 107,112 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 27,063 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.1% of Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $62,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of META stock opened at $736.67 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $638.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $582.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 14,746 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.53, for a total value of $8,162,353.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 793,070 shares of company stock valued at $504,185,108. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $717.90.

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.