Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Balboa Wealth Partners

Balboa Wealth Partners cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,400 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 971 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.1% of Balboa Wealth Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $604.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $657.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $604.41. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. This is an increase 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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 given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,035 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.63, for a total transaction of $13,631,512.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total transaction of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This represents a 2.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 653,450 shares of company stock valued at $427,997,036 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.