Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 675,476 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 46,332 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 4.5% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $395,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,686,000 after acquiring an additional 6,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $689.18 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.81, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $613.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $567.04. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $387.10 and a one year high of $710.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 39.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Barclays upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $710.83.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $666.00, for a total value of $602,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,510,470. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 661,804 shares of company stock worth $407,745,741. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.