Davies Financial Advisors Inc. Trims Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Davies Financial Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,863 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 256 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.4% of Davies Financial Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Davies Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.1 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $636.45 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $385.66 and a 12 month high of $638.40. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $600.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $559.30. The company has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Mizuho increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $654.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $559,290.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,663,600. This trade represents a 2.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total transaction of $22,746,973.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 568,016 shares of company stock valued at $346,031,180. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.