Vestcor Inc Cuts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Vestcor Inc reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 26.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,142 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 17,869 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.0% of Vestcor Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $29,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.9 %

META opened at $607.60 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $658.01 and a 200 day moving average of $603.80.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly 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 period last year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total value of $243,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,576,930. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.66, for a total transaction of $567,127.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,760,768.50. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 654,355 shares of company stock valued at $428,564,164 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on META shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Two research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

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.