Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Lowered by Cohen Investment Advisors LLC

Cohen Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,137 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 109 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 3.6% of Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $650.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total transaction of $520,103.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,387 shares in the company, valued at $18,612,808.90. This trade represents a 2.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 496,174 shares of company stock valued at $301,408,499 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $612.77 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $596.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $556.39. 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 capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $370.95 and a twelve month high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

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.