Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Decreased by L & S Advisors Inc

L & S Advisors Inc decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 20.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 7,808 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.9% of L & S Advisors Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.31.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total transaction of $373,901.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,205,164.86. This trade represents a 8.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at $19,477,780.40. The trade was a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 584,823 shares of company stock worth $386,274,777 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of META stock opened at $576.74 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $655.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $609.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect 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 was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

About Meta Platforms

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.