GS Investments Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

GS Investments Inc. lessened its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,904 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 510 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.7% of GS Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. GS Investments Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $70,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $596.25 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $655.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $605.74. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.93, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total transaction of $243,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,576,930. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total value of $552,830.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,269,825.75. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 622,844 shares of company stock valued at $409,212,161. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.