Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A

OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 30.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 527 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 233 shares during the period. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total transaction of $243,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,927 shares in the company, valued at $10,576,930. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 622,844 shares of company stock valued at $409,212,161 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $596.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $655.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $605.74. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Mizuho increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

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.