Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by D.B. Root & Company LLC

D.B. Root & Company LLC lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,522 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 206 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.0% of D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $647.49 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $601.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $560.33. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $385.66 and a one year high of $652.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective (up from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $654.20.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total transaction of $524,990.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 31,482 shares in the company, valued at $18,262,708.20. This represents a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.25, for a total value of $22,746,973.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 568,016 shares of company stock worth $346,031,180. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.