Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Decreased by Venator Management LLC

Venator Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 58,507 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 9.9% of Venator Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Venator Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $34,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Partners in Financial Planning purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $361,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 227,738 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $133,343,000 after buying an additional 31,194 shares during the period. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,864,000. Inkwell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,631,000. Finally, United Bank grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. United Bank now owns 6,186 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,622,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.3 %

NASDAQ META opened at $576.74 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $655.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $609.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at $19,477,780.40. This represents a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 584,410 shares of company stock valued at $386,031,454 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on META shares. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research lifted 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, January 30th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

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.