Fiduciary Group LLC Has $9 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Fiduciary Group LLC lessened its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,362 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 0.9% of Fiduciary Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VeraBank N.A. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $596.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $655.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $605.74.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. This is a boost 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. UBS Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given 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 $718.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total transaction of $552,830.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,269,825.75. This represents a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total value of $243,670.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,927 shares in the company, valued at $10,576,930. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 622,844 shares of company stock valued at $409,212,161 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.