Thompson Investment Management Inc. Has $13.67 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Thompson Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,342 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 385 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.0% of Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,388,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,569,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,644 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.55, for a total transaction of $10,320,386.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,888,979.95. This trade represents a 28.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.69, for a total transaction of $14,194,198.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 793,070 shares of company stock valued at $504,185,108 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $736.67 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $638.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $582.68. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.90.

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.