Bard Financial Services Inc. Sells 75 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bard Financial Services Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,450 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Capital Market Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 1,462 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $856,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 4,245 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 50,766 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $29,724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 15,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,075,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,114,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,249,931,000 after buying an additional 206,502 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 326,624 shares of company stock valued at $197,875,975 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $645.80.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META traded up $16.28 on Monday, reaching $620.91. 7,568,029 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,500,438. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $589.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $549.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.25, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $352.05 and a fifty-two week high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

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.