Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,163,654 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 97,090 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.7% of Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Meta Platforms worth $1,266,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 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 $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,311 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.21, for a total transaction of $1,387,085.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 585,605 shares of company stock valued at $386,710,448 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of META opened at $626.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $656.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $608.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.31.

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.