Whitener Capital Management Inc. Sells 85 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Whitener Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,966 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Defined Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 645 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,759,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 51,228 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $29,995,000 after buying an additional 13,043 shares during the period. Brand Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Brand Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 461 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walker Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 478 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $612.77 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $596.78 and its 200-day moving average is $556.71. 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 $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.86, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $370.95 and a fifty-two week high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total transaction of $520,103.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,612,808.90. This trade represents a 2.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 496,174 shares of company stock worth $301,408,499 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.