Curran Financial Partners LLC Has $331,000 Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Curran Financial Partners LLC trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 846 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 70 shares during the period. Curran Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,244,796 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,011,920,000 after buying an additional 1,733,182 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after buying an additional 5,001,647 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,890,950,000 after buying an additional 1,184,978 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,223,148,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,003,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,906,009,000 after acquiring an additional 946,871 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,440,278 shares of company stock worth $684,796,490. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded up $17.28 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $511.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,233,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,931,227. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $493.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $396.70. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $207.13 and a 52 week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Mizuho raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.53.

Meta Platforms 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.