Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Sells 2,261 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 41.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,165 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,261 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.2% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,853,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,197,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,019 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 6,072 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,555,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Altus Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. Altus Wealth Management LLC now owns 704 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, BankPlus Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $236,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3 %

META stock opened at $689.18 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $613.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $565.78. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $387.10 and a twelve month high of $710.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.81, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total transaction of $24,195,307.97. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 661,804 shares of company stock worth $407,745,741 over the last ninety days. 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.