Granite Group Advisors LLC Sells 542 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Granite Group Advisors LLC reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 24.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,695 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 542 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.6% of Granite Group Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Granite Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 661,312 shares of company stock valued at $407,377,422. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $655.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $676.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $608.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $563.58. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $387.10 and a 52-week high of $682.58.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

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.