Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel

Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,102 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of META opened at $683.62 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $647.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $591.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. 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 payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total transaction of $511,596.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,362,687. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at $11,018,473.83. The trade was a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 810,217 shares of company stock worth $523,808,864 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.