CX Institutional Lowers Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

CX Institutional lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,639 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,440 shares during the period. CX Institutional’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total transaction of $23,160,423.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 603,032 shares of company stock valued at $368,666,614. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $659.88 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $604.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $561.55. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $387.10 and a 1 year high of $663.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $654.20.

Meta Platforms Company 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.