Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Marino Stram & Associates LLC

Marino Stram & Associates LLC cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,074 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 72 shares during the period. Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,573,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total value of $22,515,282.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,416,908.60. This represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 568,016 shares of company stock valued at $346,031,180 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $647.49 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $385.66 and a 52 week high of $652.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50 day moving average is $601.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $560.33.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Pivotal Research raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $654.20.

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.