Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Liberty Wealth Management LLC

Liberty Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,363 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $459,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $866,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $547,995.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,649,280. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total transaction of $243,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,576,930. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 654,355 shares of company stock worth $428,564,164. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $607.60 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $658.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $603.80. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on META shares. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

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.