Gainplan LLC Lowers Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Gainplan LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 24.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 462 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 147 shares during the period. Gainplan LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.55, for a total transaction of $571,552.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,215,915.50. This represents a 2.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total value of $7,984,944.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 381,290 shares in the company, valued at $234,649,678.90. This represents a 3.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 423,427 shares of company stock worth $256,996,450 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on META shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $594.25 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $595.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $554.81. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $358.61 and a twelve month high of $638.40. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.