Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Legacy Trust

Legacy Trust lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 15,273 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 140 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.1% of Legacy Trust’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Legacy Trust’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,942,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Lindenwold Advisors INC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,388,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $2,918,698.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 8,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,943,375.40. This represents a 37.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $689.18 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $387.10 and a 1 year high of $710.79. The stock has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $613.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $567.04.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 39.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.44 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $710.83.

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.