Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Avity Investment Management Inc.

Avity Investment Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,394 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,178 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 4.5% of Avity Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $57,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.8 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $617.12 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $358.61 and a 12 month high of $638.40. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $595.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $554.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.69, for a total value of $21,721,069.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 495,682 shares of company stock valued at $301,101,199 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $650.05.

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.