Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Sykon Capital LLC

Sykon Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,644 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 52 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.9% of Sykon Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Sykon Capital LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Intellus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,831,000. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,580,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,614,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $945,581,000 after buying an additional 39,479 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,268,104 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,670,038,000 after buying an additional 26,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $600,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total transaction of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 622,431 shares of company stock worth $408,968,491. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of META opened at $596.25 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $655.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $606.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

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.