Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Winthrop Advisory Group LLC

Winthrop Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,100 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 153 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.5% of Winthrop Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total transaction of $21,951,323.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at $19,641,281.24. The trade was a 2.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 411,357 shares of company stock worth $249,545,428. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $647.98.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $13.84 on Monday, hitting $602.02. The company had a trading volume of 3,203,245 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,772,302. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $358.61 and a 12-month high of $638.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $593.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $553.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.36, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

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.