MJP Associates Inc. ADV Sells 360 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

MJP Associates Inc. ADV trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,007 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 360 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $492.14, for a total value of $15,498,965.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $492.14, for a total value of $15,498,965.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,504,435 shares of company stock worth $703,629,367. 13.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.6 %

META stock traded down $7.96 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $485.90. 14,953,250 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,826,258. The stock has a market cap of $1.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $202.54 and a fifty-two week high of $523.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $464.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $375.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $405.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $496.35.

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.